Awakening
by miarath
Summary: Aubrey's power have changed Caryn, only how much? What if it woke something else in her? Something scary and powerful, barely in control. What if there's something worse than vampires? AU It's a bit of an xover with Forever Knight Jeanette. Currently on HIATUS until further notice
1. Discovery

**Awakening **

By miarath

(Demon in my view / Shattered Mirror)

So, what really happened to Caryn Smoke after she healed Jessica - and what has to do with her line's name?

Every name has its origin as every myth contains a piece of truth.

So, what if said myth came alive to haunt you?

Sometimes archenemies have to work together to survive; but can they really do that?

Disclaimer:

The characters and all other things you recognize from the books, belong to Amelia Atwater-Rhodes or to the creatores of Forever Knight (I know it's not much but it's there never the less.)

I did this just for fun, not for any profit.

* * *

**Discovery**

-----------------------

At the beginning there was discovery.

Discovery of change, and change was everything it ever was.

-

Caryn felt numb. She was almost home, but even now she felt like being in a daze. Everything seemed so unreal to her. Last night, she'd fought her hardest fight. She would have lost it, too, if not for him. "He had been willing to die for her," she thought and shook her head. "To risqué everything – just for love." It was the exact opposite she had been taught her whole life.

She walked slowly through their garden. She gave it a tired look. The maple trees seemed as high as yesterday; and it still smelled of roses and old trees.

Something definitely had been changed inside of her. She did not know what exactly had changed. That was truly scared her: the not knowing. "I hope my mother can forgive me for this," she thought. She could see the main front of their house. It was a simple white house; it looked just like the other ones in their neighbourhood. It had two stories and a red roof; the latter shone in a lovely red in the sun. It was, of course, only a temporary home like all the other ones have been. She shivered slightly. "Home at last, but will it be my home, tomorrow?"

Caryn looked up, the sun was almost at its zenith. It was already midday; it felt unreal. She'd had been sleeping longer than she had thought. Now, the lights were bright; it was as if nothing had happened. "Shouldn't there be some dark clouds?" She sighed tiredly. Last night had her really exhausted.

She had trouble handling the keys, but they kept slipping from her fingers; she sighed. She tried again.

Finely the door creaked open. Caryn sighed in relief, putting the keys back into her pocket.

Hasana leaned next to the doorframe, looking her over. She frowned.

"Child," she said, slowly, "what has happened? Are you all right?" She leaned closer, concern flashing in her eyes. There were shadows under her eyes and her hair looked ruffled.

"Oh, please forgive me. Please say that you'll forgive me?" Caryn pleaded and buried her head in her mothers embrace.

"Shh, child calm down, please? Everything will be all right." Hasana whispered, stroking her daughter's hair. Hasana tried to be strong, but there were still slight trembles in her voice.

"You look terrible child. You have to be hungry. Sit down here. I'm going to fix you something to eat." Hasana led her to the kitchen, to their table. She whirled around to fetch something to eat.

"I'm really not that hungry, mother." Caryn sighed. It was typical for her mother to react like this, even if it would've been world's end. Caryn gave in, for her mother's sake; she really didn't feel like eating right now. There was nothing she could do.

"You don't believe that, do you?" Hasana insisted, turning around to face her.

Caryn didn't answer. She gave her mother a blank glance. Eventually she shook her head.

"No, you're right." She acknowledged. "I need to eat." She had done a lot of magic last night and now she had to its price. She needed to refill her magic energy.

Hasana hurried to make breakfast, hot cacao and some toast with strawberry jam.

"Oops, sorry." She almost dropped the mug filled with cacao. "That would have been a fine mess."

"Here you are." Hasana smiled; she put the mug on the table.

"Thank you. But I really have to tell --" Caryn replied, her voice rising a pitch higher.

"You'll tell me later. So, do me the favour and eat your meal?" Hasana demanded.

"Okay." Caryn finally agreed to do as her mother wished and slumped down on the nearest chair.

"Now, that's my girl. Enjoy." Hasana smiled encouraging her daughter to calm down. Well, Hasana needed to calm down as much as Caryn did, maybe more so. So, she, too, slumped down onto a near by chair.

Caryn took a bite of her toast; the jam tasted juicy. She took another bite. She really was hungry. She ate in silence. Eating her meal seemed to have calmed her down, remarkable.

"Now, tell me what happened, please?" Her mother asked her, who sat in front of her. Hasana wore the same blue dress like yesterday; it looked crumpled. A stark contrast to the sunny weather outside, it was.

"Everything is as it ever was, nothing changed," Caryn thought, "but that's a lie, isn't it?"

"Well, it's about Jessica, you know?" She began, but stopped not knowing how to explain the things happened the night.

"The girl we tried to save." Hasana remembered. "What happened to her?"

"Fala did, mother. She almost killed her." Caryn explained shivering; reliving the moments when she saw what Fala had done to Jessica. No, there had been no other way for her but to help Jessica.

"Almost?" Her mother questioned. Her voice was low, showing her disbelief clearly. Caryn was their best healer, since Monica. Caryn was a very good healer; something Hasana was proud of.

"I tried to heal her," Caryn said, "I simply couldn't act any other way, mother." She apologized.

"You tried, which means you've failed?" Hasana sounded disappointed, but another part of her was more than worried. Fala wasn't known to leave her victims alive. Jessica had to have been more dead than alive at the time Caryn started her healing. Any other Witch would have been dead by now – burned out, just as Monica burned out, while bringing Jessica's mother back to life.

"No, I succeeded, but Fala had taken almost all of her blood." Caryn denied.

"So, what did happen?" Hasana could see the hints of a vampiric aura in her daughter's aura. There were very few things what could have caused it. "Oh, what have you done?" Hasana wondered.  
"Oh, but I think I know what you've done, daughter. There'll be simply no other way, you could've done something like this and still be alive." She fought down shivers of dread at this thought.

"Aubrey helped me healing her." She told finely, almost whispering, her voice barely to be heard.

"How could you? You knew the dangers and you did it anyway." Hasana was shaken by her daughter's action, but on the other hand felt proud about her braveness. "But what have we Smokes been anything but rebels?" She sighed with defeat. What done was done and could not be undone.

"You know, you will have to face the consequences for your actions." Hasana said, her voice sounding grim and worried.

"I know mother…" Caryn acknowledged. "…it scares me."

"It should child." They heard a voice from behind. It was Dominique Vida. Dominique had listened to her whole story and she wasn't pleased, no, not at all.

"You know the punishment of associating with the enemy, do you?"

"I haven't done such a thing." Caryn said with traces of fear and anger in her voice now. Fear of what Dominique would be going to do to her and anger at her arrogance and coldness. Sometimes the Vida hunter looked much colder than any vampire Caryn ever had seen. "Who is Dominique to judge me? She's not even one of my line. She has no right to do so."

"Yes, you did. Do you deny using a vampires might to heal Jessica?" Questioned Dominique, getting even angrier; she was furious. "Have you not?"

"I had no choice. I am a healer. What should I have done, let her die? Without trying to help her?" She argued. It had been instinct: there was no way in hell she could've acted differently. Caryn's healer instincts run deep, too deep to ignore.

"I would." Dominique said icily.

"I bet you would!" She snorted. Was that sarcasm from a Smoke witch? But Caryn never felt so angry in her life. "No," Caryn thought, "this isn't right." She was feeling weird. "Why is it so hot in here? It's like I'm burning with fever." She trembled under the heat.

Hasana had been watching this dispute for a while. A human mother might have interfered, but Hasana was a witch. Dominique Vida was their leader; it was her right to enforce their laws.  
"Things were done differently among our kind," she thought, but now she was scared. Her daughter's aura had changed, again. "There are spots of orange now, damn." Hasana cursed silently.

"It can't be happening, not after almost more than two centuries." Hasana thought, while sadness dripped into her accompanied with panic. This could easily turn into disaster, if it was, what she feared it was.

"But how? There had not been one in centuries… We lost it. It's impossible … and still it's there…" Hasana shivered but her thoughts were spinning and spinning.

"We thought it had ceased to exist, forever, but now I'm not that sure any more. Could it be, that it only became recessive? How do we handle a power, we hardly know any more? None of us has any experience with it." Hasana felt her panic rising to full force.

"Stop it! This isn't necessary." Hasana raised her voice up to a pitch just under a yell to reach Dominique. "Leave her alone, Dominique." Hasana knew that she had to intervene or something horrible would happen. When a witch gained a new power, be it in her puberty or later, it was always dangerous.

"Hasana, your daughter betrayed us. And look at her what it had brought her in. Her healing powers are tainted. And why? All because she tried to heal a girl who'd decided to became a vampire anyway." Dominique clearly didn't understand why Hasana was trying to stop their argument. To Dominique Hasana was only trying to save her daughter.

"Dominique, how are you to judge her? You haven't been in her place. She did only what she was supposed to do. She's a healer. It's not her fault." Hasana tried to break through Dominique's stubbornness, not with much success.

"My mother is right, I am a healer and not a hunter. And I never will be." Caryn said proudly. She had always felt uncomfortable in Dominique's company, to say the least.

"You! You are unworthy to be called a witch. I should strip you of your powers right now. It's only a shame to lose these strong healing powers of yours. Maybe you learn your lesson after living a few weeks without your powers." Shouted Dominique in a fit of rage.

"What is she doing? No, this can't be happening…. " Caryn thought in panic.

"No, Dominique, please stop now. Now it's not to late, so please stop." Hasana begged her to let Caryn go. "You bloody fool, you are going to get us all killed, if you go any further!" She shouted finely.

"What? Why?" Dominique was shocked. Hasana had never spoken to her in this tone before. Hasana doesn't curse. So, something terrible had to be wrong, but what?

"Can't you see it?" Hasana pointed at Caryn. "Look at her, look at her aura!"

Dominique did look at Caryn, but all she could see was an aura tainted by vampiric powers. There where also bits and pieces of orange and yellow there, almost like something was burning. But Dominique was a hunter not a scholar. She had little knowledge of ancient witch powers, which were not Vida. So, she didn't recognize the danger, which originated from those fiery spots in Caryn's aura. She assumed they were there because of the taint, too.

"It's tainted as I said before, Hasana." Dominique stated as a matter of fact. "She has to be punished." With these words Dominique turned back to Caryn and reached out to bind her powers.

Dominique never got close to her target. She was intercepted before she could touch Caryn.

The ancient powers in Caryn had recognized the threat, which originated from Dominique. They rose in order to defend Caryn. Dominique's powers were met by flames of nearly unbelievable raw power. "By the gods!" she thought, while trying not to bend under the pressure. Dominique was frightened, for once. Strong Vida power met raw power of an unknown kind. She rarely managed to defend herself against Caryn.

Caryn was also frightened; she was scared to death. "Is that me, who is doing this? Have to stop it." She thought in despair. As suddenly the flames appeared, so they were gone.

Leaving three scared and confused witches and a patch of scorched floor behind.

"Caryn, come with me." Hasana took her daughter upstairs to her room. She has to calm down. It is indispensable if we want to stay alive trough this.

Dominique was still in shock so she didn't interfere. "Hasana had known. She'd tried to warn me but I was too blind to see." She felt ashamed.

"Mother, what is happening to me?" Caryn asked her mother; she was trembling.

"What have I done? I almost killed her! Oh, what have I done? She asked her mother, her despair clinching to her.

"Calm, please daughter. You have to relax, please? " Hasana tried to calm her down as best she could. "This is very important."

"Why?" Caryn was too confused and shocked to really understand her mother's words.

"Do you want to repeat what happened in the kitchen?" Hasana tried to get through her daughter, making her understand how important this was. She had to calm down.

"No, of course I don't, mother." Caryn closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"She knows what's going on." Caryn realized with relief. "You know what's happening to me, don't you?"

"Yes, I am afraid I do. Daughter do you know why our family's name is Smoke?"

"No, but what has it to do with this?"

"Everything daughter, everything. You better sit down since this is a long story."

Caryn sat down on her bed. Hasana took the place next to her.

"We were not always healers. Not in the beginning. There had been a time our line had been more feared by any vampire than the Vida are today. Actually, the Vida of today did not exist then, nor did Smoke." Hasana began her tale. "We were all one line, but we did argue."

"You're going to tell me we were hunters, too?" Caryn swallowed, she could hardly see themselves as hunters.

"Yes and no, but it had been a long time ago. In another time everything had been different, so were we. Because of it there are not many people alive who knew of our family dower. Since it had been long ceased to exist in our people. Or so we thought." Hasana smiled sadly at this.

"You think I have this power?" Caryn asked relieved to hear that at least her mother seemed to know what is happening to her.

"Indeed I do. But let me go on. As I said the knowledge of our power ceased almost as fast as the power itself disappeared. We never gave much thought of why it happened. After all, we are now healers and pacifists, we no longer needed a power, which would mainly aid in combat."

"But what has it to do with our name?"

"Do you remember the figure of speech 'There were is smoke there's fire too.' daughter?"

"Yes I do. Then this power is about fire? Is this why I felt like burning from inside?"

"Yes, it is. In the old times and when I speak of old times I mean like a thousand years ago, we were able to wield fire. But since those times much information had been lost." Hasana said, distraught at this. "It is said to be a gift from the dragons of old."

"Dragons, mother?" Caryn wondered. She, like every other witch, knew the myth about them, but they were myth and nothing more – fairytales.

"Yes, Caryn they were real. Just like many others." Hasana said, frowning slightly. "They are gone now, just like our power or so we thought." She could vividly remember the stories her mother had told to her when she was young; some had been scary as others had been wonderful, but most of it had been real – sometimes too real.

"When our power began to fade we didn't even notice it at first, and since we become healers it lost importance to us, until one day it finely was gone. " Hasana swallowed. "Only that it's not."

"How do we control it? How do 'I' control it? I don't want something like that to happen again."

"I'm not sure daughter; just try to be as relaxed as possible. All I can do is to look up about it in our family archives. Maybe I can find something helpful there, something that will help us to deal with it. But however daughter, I will be there for you. We're together in this." She said determined.

"I love you, mother," she said and embraced her.

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Note: I rewrote several passages and got rid of some nasty 'then's where they didn't belong.

Like it? Please review. :-)


	2. Understanding

Awakening - Chapter Two

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

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**Understanding**

Hasana went back to the kitchen where they had left Dominique. "It's already dark," Hasana noticed, "so our talk took longer then expected." 

"Dominique?" She called.

"Dominique where are you?" It was difficult for Hasana to find her, because Dominique hadn't bothered with turning on the lights. Instead she sat in the darkness, brooding.

"Why are you here, sitting in the dark?" Hasana wondered aloud and turned the lights on.

"You were right. I should have listened," said Dominique, her voice not much more than a whisper.

"It's alright." Hasana disagreed, not fully truthfully, knowing she could've never forgiven her if something would happen to Caryn.

"No, I should have more control over my emotions. It's not the way of a true Vida to let herself be controlled by her anger. It makes her blind." Dominique was proud of her control and she felt shame of her prior behaviour. Since control was necessary for being a success full vampire hunter. "Losing ones temper like that is exactly what does one get killed in battle."

"You understand that we have to keep this quiet, do you?" said Hasana, knowing that this could end very terrible, if this would be known too early. Not all witches were as nice as Dominique Vida or at least do listen to reason that is.

"Yes, of course. It would be hazardous if it would be discovered as long as Caryn hasn't gained control yet," Dominique agreed slowly, but her voice remained grave. "But what about the vampiric taint in her aura?"

"I'm afraid, there is nothing we can do right now," Hasana said, "but hope for the best." She knew she still could lose her daughter, if things took a turn for the worse. There was also the possibility that Caryn might decide to leave the Smoke line for good. Just like Midnight and Ardiente had done.

"She need's to be trained, Hasana." Dominique demanded.

"I know, but here is not the right place for that. I have to take my daughter from school for a while." Hasana agreed, while trying not to think about the possible chaos, which could come out of this.

"I understand. When will you be leaving?" Dominique nodded.

"Maybe in a couple of days or tomorrow depending on her emotional state." Hasana replied.

"I guess it's better to leave you two alone, then?"

"It would be helpful."

"Don't worry, I'll be leaving tomorrow." Dominique said calmly.

"Good night then."

"Night. And Hasana?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck!"

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**Reviewers:**

Lady Alexandria of Accura:

Thank you for the interesting idea, I'm going to write about this in – em – about in chapter 7.

As to your question: the Arun line, a witch line who where half vampire and half witch were founded by Midnight Smoke. At least this is what it is written in Demon in my view.

**All others:**

Thank you for your nice reviews:-)


	3. Past

Awakening - Chapter Three

For disclaimer see chapter 1.

* * *

**Past **

It was early morning, very early; there was still a lot of time until Hasana needed to open her bookshop. And her daughter wasn't up yet, too.

Hasana used this time to look up some old journals of her ancestors. She was in her private library, trying to find some answers. She'd opened the journal of Elena Smoke. It was one of Hasana's oldest books, frankly without the conserving spell around it, it would've been hardly readable today.

Hasana began to read the chapter, which had been written in Latin, where she found the most about their old power.

* * *

**The third day of the second moon, 1415:**__

Le donum de regina de draco

The gift of the dragon queen had been given to our ancient ancestors for saving her life. For many generations it helped us to fulfil our holy duty: To protect the helpless from those who prey on them, but those times were long gone. Now, humans fear and hate us instead of searching our help.

Death has taken many of us and chaos reigns the world. The smell of death and disease is everywhere as it is war. I've never seen so many suffer and die before; this is a dark age. So much pain and fear which is why we need to be strong, but our power fades; every generation there are less of us who could use the full power of the donum. The "Call of the flame" is its name as it gives us the ability to master the enormous strength of the fire elemental. I am afraid I might be one of the last and I am near way as strong as my mother or my grandmother was.  


* * *

She was looking for answers on how to control her daughter's powers. Elena Smoke's journals were one of the best sources as she was one of the last who were able to call the flames to her aid. But she was also the one who changed their role from guardians to healers. Elena seemed to know that someday we might need this information, since witch powers sometimes had the peculiarity to jump over several generations.

"I only hope this is not some weird sign of a junction in time. Well, however it's more likely it has something to do with her using Aubrey's powers for healing. Maybe this had worked as a catalyst," Hasana thought, after she had read a bit more.

She was very uneasy about their current situation. While Hasana was a pacifist and a healer like every member of her family today, she disliked Dominique's tendency to take power over everyone and everything. She would do what ever was in her power to keep her daughter safe - from everyone.

"Hopefully Dominique doesn't do anything stupid, like trying to control her." She thought. Hasana knew little about their ancient family power; but of this she was sure: The "Call of the Flame" did protect its wielder from everyone who dared to attack her or him. It did not care from where the attack came, nor did it know friend or foe. In Caryn's current state this would cause a catastrophe. "At least I have been able to convince her to leave us alone for the time being." She sighed in relief.

Hasana also had her own difficulties to deal with the vampiric taint. "I wished you were still alive, Monica," she thought, "you were always the stronger of us two in things like this."

Since aeons vampires have been their mortal enemies. It is hard to overcome such a thing, especially in such a short time. True, witches of the Smoke line hadn't done battle since the Dark Ages. True, this had happened before to one of their own, but that does not made it any easier to bear. Yet, the taint triggers all her alarms but she's doing all she can, for her daughters sake – and for them all.

"Well, I've been worrying enough for this morning," she thought. "It's time to do something useful." At this thought a tiny half-smile graced her lips. She looked outside, feeling already better.

"Hm, it's almost half seven. I should prepare breakfast for my daughter." Hasana went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for her daughter. Concentrating her on the simple things, like preparing something to eat, did help to keep her from her dark thoughts about the future.

* * *

Dominique arrived at her house a few hours after sunrise. She knew that her presence at Hasana's would do more harm than anything else, so she went home. But her mind was miles away. That was why she didn't react when someone called her name.

"Mother?" She heard her older daughter, Adianna, calling. Adianna was surprised at her early arrival since Dominique had planned to stay over the weekend at Hasana's. 

"Is something wrong?" Her daughter asked her, looking curiously at her mother but also very respectful.

"No, nothing is wrong. I just decided to leave earlier." Dominique eased her daughter's worries; she gave her eldest daughter a good long glance. "Is everything all right?"

"Well, we might have some trouble in school. You know, Sarah discovered that one of the teachers is in fact a vampire." Adianna smiled a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about this Mother. I'll look out for her."

"You shouldn't have to," Dominique said sternly, "Sarah is old enough to deal with it on her own."

"I know, but she's still my little sister." Adianna nodded. "If not me who then?" She thought.

"That she is." Dominique smiled a rare smile. "But now I have work to do. I have to prepare for the next council, so, please leave me alone

"I'll see you later then." Adianna nodded, smiled and left.

"Take care." Dominique whispered.

Dominique went into her study room. She closed the door carefully and went to her desk.

"Well, that's not the only thing I have to do." She thought. While Dominique was not much of a politician, she indeed liked power, and of course it hadn't been all about kindness when she had agreed with Hasana to leave them alone. She knew that the current situation was very fragile but she also knew that when the time came and Caryn had control over her power they would have one of the strongest weapons since a long time. "And then those leeches would have little to laugh." She thought excitingly. "Hell, we could even burn down New Mayhem, again." There was an evil smirk on her lips now. "All we need is to find it."

"But first I have to deal with the council." She said to herself and took the invitation from the desk.

"So, let's see what they are writing." Dominique opened the envelope.

"That's early!" She eyed curiously. "But that's more then a month earlier then expected."

"I wonder what's this about." She went over it, reading it carefully. "Hmm, sounds interesting."

"So, the Triste are asking for our help" She smirked.

* * *

Author's note:

Adianna was introduced in 'Shattered Mirror'


	4. Dreams

Awakening – Chapter Four

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Dreams**

Far from Dominique's house Aubrey rose from a very uneasy sleep during the day. Caryn had left the two of them had left for one of his houses in New York. They no longer needed that safe place to rest, as Jessica was strong enough, now. He knew she wanted to see the world and he didn't see any reason why not. He had assumed that Jessica's turning would stop her dreams, but he was wrong. That was because he could feel them in his own ones, echoing there, making normal dreams into something strange. He opened his eyes; only to see that it was still day.

"Strange," he thought. "It looks like my shields aren't strong enough."

His dreams had been filled with a feeling of upcoming dread and darkness. Dread he could taste on his lips; it felt like the taste of blood gone awry. It was an unfamiliar feeling to him; that was it had been until Risika had happened.

It tasted awful, tasted of real death and other things without a name. Things too dreadful to even have a name. It was worse, he did not remember of what it really had been. He tried not to think about it.

Nothing was worse than the unknown. He shook his head to get these half memories out of his mind, not with much success. He could hear Jessica's laptop running; ah, yes, she was writing.

He stood up, slowly walking over to her.

"Jess?" he asked, watching her typing on her laptop. "What are you doing?"

"Writing, why?" She turned around to her mate with a wide grin.

"Oh no, not again!" He thought, knowing that there was no stopping her when Jessica was like this.

"So what's it about this time?" he asked aloud, hoping it wasn't anything to put them into more trouble.

Jessica's smile disappeared making room for a very serious look on her young face. Her emerald eyes were an awesome contrast to her pale skin and deep raven hair – one he marvelled in. The colour was fake of course, but that didn't matter to him.

"I don't quite know Aubrey." She said with a thoughtful voice, sounding much older than she was, but then she already had seen more than any ordinary teen in her dreams before.

"What you don't know?" He replied rather confused. "Either you know what you're writing about or not. You cannot write what you don't know. That makes no sense." He shook his head, wondering what was going on.

"I know, what I wanted to say is that I'm not sure at all what this is about. It's bizarre, it's a mess and it doesn't makes any sense to me too." She explained, serious now.

"But you feel that you need to write about it, don't you?" He completed the sentence for her.

"Yes, no it's worse I feel that I have to write, no matter how strange this is." She agreed with a sad smile.

"So what did you dream about?" He asked eventually.

"That's the problem there Aubrey. There isn't really much to see." She looked up from her laptop, sighing slightly. "First there is darkness, a never ending night, and then there are fire's lots of fire's and suddenly there is a river made of blood."

"Well, sounds like the end of the world." He smirked. "Very theatrically."

"Yes, it sounds cliché." She turned her attention back to her laptop. She had managed few lines, but what she written sounded strange enough. He looked her over her shoulder and began to read.

The night was dark as the water was deep, endless. That was all she remembered: endless dark.  
It remained like this for a while, maybe a few years, centuries – she didn't know.

Then, after the dark there was suddenly light: fire.

Fire, it was burning inside the core of the night; everything was set alight, but that was definitely not good.

He shook his head in denial. "Jessica," he said, "that is exactly what I have dreamed last day."

She turned around, eye wide. "So, you share my dreams?"

"Seems like I do." He grumbled.


	5. Present

Awakening – Chapter Five  
For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Present**

Hasana was preparing breakfast for her daughter; it was eight thirty. Caryn had slept almost the whole day yesterday. Hasana let her sleep, because she knew that using ones healing powers to that extend, her daughter had done, came to a high price. To say the least it was very exhausting.

So Hasana had used the time read more of Elena's journals and had called her sister-in-law Erinna, asking her if she and Caryn could visit her. Hasana had almost feared, that Erinna might not be at her mountain retreat for the time being. But Erinna agreed fast enough, after hearing about this incident. Of cause Hasana couldn't tell her what exactly had happened, not over the phone. But it was urgent and that was enough.

Now, Hasana was using this normal action of making breakfast to calm her uneasy nerves. She took another glance out of the kitchen window smiling at the rising sun and sighed. What ever happened some things remained the same.

She hardly slept the last night. She simply couldn't help to worry about their future.  
"Caryn", she whispered to herself. "I swear I'll do anything to keep you save." She was dead serious. No, matter what Dominique or any of the others would do she would stand by her daughter.  
She was waked out of her reverie by the sound of the kitchen door.

Caryn had come to eat breakfast. "Strange how's that we all turn to such ordinary actions." Hasana wondered briefly. "Must be, because we've to deal with all that strange stuff in our lives" Hasana answered herself, using Mikhail's words. "Now Mikhail, have to remember to call him later."

"Morning darling." She greeted her daughter with a warm smile.

"Morning." Caryn said sleep headily; she was feeling somewhat groggy, but much stronger than yesterday. After the adrenalin had left her, she simply dropped to sleep for almost twenty-four hours straight.

"Come an sit down. I'll get you some toast and hot cacao." She said, just to create some kind of normality after the chaos two day's before. 

"Sounds good." She sat down and began slowly to eat. After the first few bite she felt reassured.

"Hm, this is real good. Where did you get them?" She asked between bites, pointing at the marmalade.

"I got them from Erinna a week ago." Hasana said with a smile, taking another sip of her tea.

"They're really yummy. So, say thank you, for me, would you?" Caryn added good-natured. Yes, the change seemed not as worse as she had feared yesterday. She was still herself.

"Of course, I'll do that." Her mother answered. "You can do that yourself in person, actually."

"What? How come?" Caryn asked, caught off guard.

"Well, we are going to visit her." Hasana explained.

"That's nice. I haven't seen Erinna since what, Mik's birthday, wasn't it?" Caryn replied in a much lighter tone. Then she went silent, thinking over it. "If we're visiting aunt Erinna, that leaves Mikhail to the Council Mom, doesn't it?"

Caryn suddenly had to grin at this thought.

"Yes, that's right." Hasana smiled at that, knowing what her daughter meant.

"He's going to love it." Caryn stated, "Oh, but the other witches won't." She thought with glee, but then sobered up instantly thinking why he would have to take Council Duty. Hasana hadn't planned going to aunt Erinna before the incident. It was all because she had messed up, because her instinct had been too strong.

"So Cary, how are you? Have you slept well?" Hasana asked with concern after they had settled for a while at their breakfast table. Somehow she had picked up the sudden mood change of her daughter. On moment Caryn cried for laughter and now it there again: the despair from yesterday.

"I guess considering what had happened it was okay. But I had some weird dreams..." Caryn replied slowly, setting her mug down.

"What kind of dreams?" Hasana asked instantly worried. Dreams were always important to their kind. They were all too often prophetic, meant to warn of coming danger. 

"I don't know. I forgot of what they actually were about. I remember only that the were kind of strange." She explained, trying to remember as much as she could.

"Do you remember anything of them, then?" Hasana tried again, hoping to get at least a hint of the nature of her daughter's dreams. 

"They were dark. Everything was dark – dark and so cold." Caryn said with a shiver in her voice. "Trapped in the dark. That's what I felt like." She felt now a slight shiver at that memory.

"Dark, hmm." murmured Hasana, then stood up and hugged her daughter. "Well it fits. I believe it's more like you unconsciousness trying to deal with what happened."

"But there was light right before I woke, I think." She added, now remembering a distant warm looking glow. 

"Maybe that was the day." Hasana said. "Daylight fighting night's shades." She shook her shoulders, not knowing what to do else.

She got herself another cup of tea and sat down again.

After a while when Caryn was almost done eating, she looked at her mother questioningly. Suddenly remembering something they had talked the night after the incident with Dominique.

"Mother?" she asked her. Her mother had been starring into nothing; far away she seemed to be.

"Yes, Caryn?" Hasana answered eventually.

"When you told me that we were hunters in the past, does this mean I have to become a hunter, too? I mean, because I have this dower?" Caryn asked. It was clear, that Caryn did not wish to become a hunter. No, those new abilities did not change the fact that she was a healer and nothing else. She would fight for it to stay that way, although the ability to defend herself was nice.

"No, of cause not! They are two different things, although it made hunting a lot easier." Her mother answered with a smile.

"I guess it did. But I can hardly imagine our people as hunters." Caryn nodded.

"Guardians, Cary, we were guardians, not hunters. Our methods and ways were even then very different from the Vida line of today," explained her mother.

"In what way?" Caryn wondered. "Guardians or hunters, well, they all sound similar to me. Where is the difference, mother?"

"Our ancestors were guardians, who had sworn to protect the innocent and helpless around them; especially from supernatural entities." She explained. "And before you ask, vampires were not even the worst things to fight against." Hasana shivered slightly at this. Thinking of some of the journal entries she'd read about those times. No, those times had been anything but easy. 

"But you told me they were hunters..." Caryn reminded her.

"Only when provoked, only then, Caryn. That means if people were attacked they would defend them," explained Hasana. "Making sure the humans, who were trusted to us, were kept safe."

"So, our ancestors were more like guardian angels?" Caryn stated with a smile on her lips.

"Yes, that's it." Hasana said, confirming her daughter's question.

"I see." Caryn said, finally understanding what her mother meant when she told her about their ancestors. She remained silent for a while, thinking.

"Mother, you said something about us visiting aunt Erinna?"

"Yes, I did Caryn. I believe it's better if you stay away from school for the next few weeks. We're going to the Erinna's mountain retreat. Do you remember it's where you'd trained your healing powers, and if I understood Erinna right, she asked Ivory to come too."

Hasana explained. "You remember Ivory, don't you?" 

"Of course I do. How could I not? Ivory's the only Triste I've ever seen and the Retreat is just awesome place to be." Protested Caryn; remembering her early teenage years when she had learned to control her healing powers. Yes, she remembered, even if she had been only for a few days to that place. After the initial crisis had been over, she'd left to live with Erinna's people for a while.

"Do they know about it?" asked Caryn, unsure how she would react to her change.

"Well, I couldn't tell them exactly about this on the telephone, you know, but don't worry these two are the last we have to worry about." Hasana said reassuring, knowing she could trust her friend and her sister-in-law.

"And they can help us in the matter. While they might not exactly know about this specific power but they can help you to learn to gain control. Ivory can help you to understand your abilities. You know she is an aura expert." Hasana explained.

"Yes, I remember." Caryn replied thoughtfully, remembering Ivory's teaching when she had been twelve. Her healing powers had just emerged then and everything had been new and strange. Of course she could not teach her healing, Ivory wasn't a healer; she taught her about aura work instead. These were good memories to have, nevertheless. They brought thoughts of her aunt Monica, too. She smiled sadly. She remembered hearing her aunt's soft singing voice, ringing above the high range. That had been peaceful days.

"When do we leave?"

"We'll be leaving this afternoon. I have to told Moira to take care of the shop while I am away and I need to call Mikhail to take my place at Council." Hasana said.

"When?" Caryn asked.

Hasana looked at her watch. "It's nine thirty. A little early to call up Mik." She said with a smirk.  
Hasana would've called him yesterday, but he had been busy. Mik had a hell of a schedule sometimes, but he would put that all to side to help his family. Mikhail had a good heart, even if said heart was a wild one.

"Why, we would drag him out of bed?" Caryn replied with an all too knowing grin.

"Maybe worse." Hasana replied and decided to wait a bit. Mikhail was not exactly a morning person and had a nasty temper if roused too early. Hasana needed him to help her, not annoy him more than necessary.

"Here, you can help me doing the dishes." She said as they both had finished eating.

"Sure mom." Caryn took the towel to join her mother.

After the had done the dishes they decided it was late enough in the morning, almost midday to them, to call Mikhail. 

"Hello Mik, it's me." she greeted him.

"Ah, my lovely sis calls me." He replied.

"Ah, yes, she is." Hasana smiled.

"Mikhail, I need you to take my place at the Council." She told him over the phone. "And it's early this time. I need you here by next weekend."

"The Council?" He asked worried, knowing his sister good enough to know she wouldn't ask of him for nothing. "Are you sure sis? You know they are not going to be pleasant about this change." Mikhail could not hide completely the smile in his voice.

"Yes I am Mik, dead serious. I just need some time off." Hasana answered in a grave voice.

"All right, then let's play sis. Take care of you." He agreed. She could hear him snigger on the other end. "Hmm, I should let take him over more often." She thought amused, poor Dominique.

"You too, try to be nice would you?" Hasana said reassured that everything would go right, in the end.

"Okay, but only for you." He replied after a while.

"Um. Mik wait, there is someone who likes to speak to you too." Hasana began.

"Caryn? Well let her, I haven't seen little Cary for a while." Hasana almost could see his warm smile with her mind.

"Hi Mik, I am not that small anymore." Caryn told him. "How was your last gig?"

"Fine, to both. I know you're not that small anymore, but you know to me and to your mother you'll always be little Cary as I'm her little brother." He agreed with wide grin, sending them an image of himself smiling, into their minds.

"Aargh, wow, Mik. You don't have to be so – literally!" Caryn replied. It was things like this, which made most witches uncomfortable around Mik, but sometimes he couldn't help it. Things like this just came naturally to him.

"I'll try. Keep good care Cary. Tell Hasana her brother loves her " He agreed. She heard him laughing; he did that often.

"Will do Mik. I'll give the phone back to Mom. Bye Mik." Caryn said.

"Love you too, Mik, take good care --" Hasana said now with a fond grin.

"About the Council, sis …"

"You'll find everything you need at my place here," Hasana explained. "Remember second step right."

"That'll do," he confirmed, "good luck sis."

"Well, to you too. Bye." Yes, it was good to have kin like him. Her younger brother really was someone special, she thought with an even wider grin. He was such a handful sometimes, but that it's how it's supposed to be, isn't.

"Bye sis." 

Click.

"Shish, it's back to business Hasana." She told herself and went to finish their travel preparations.

After lunch they were ready, ready to leave. To go to Old Man's Reserve.

Erinna's place was a house on the countryside, no, in the wilderness, far away from civilisation and any distractions. It belonged to Erinna's people. A big forest surrounded it, but around the house there were only rocks since it was near the top of Old Man. Old Man, or by its other name Dreadnought Hill, was a high mountain with lots of rogue rock and snow hardened into ice. That place was in many ways special but the most important part, for them, was that it was holy ground, sealed against anything magical that would hurt them. It was a good place to contain potential harmful powers. Thus it was the perfect place to learn to control witch powers.

The house belonged to Mikhail's wife, Erinna. Erinna was part of a witch line who where able to change their form. Erinna's other-form was that of a barn owl, she was often here. That was when she wasn't travelling with Mikhail.

Caryn had been here before. It was the very place where she'd learned to control her healing powers and she had many good memories about the house and its surrounding mountains and woodland. It was a good place to be, sure it was rather savage, but a good place never the less.

"Putting Mikhail on Council duty certainly is a way to get Dominique back." Hasana thought with a dry grin, knowing the Vida had trouble dealing with Hasana's brother. But there had been simply no other choice. None of the others stood high enough to be accepted to represent Smoke.

Sure, Mikhail lacked the raw strength, which his sister and Caryn possessed; but healing the mind or soul was as important as healing the body. Mikhail was a fine healer for the soul, but his own faith he could not heal. He was really not what one would expect him to be. He was sarcastic and loved playing his e-guitar.

Hasana had to turn on the windscreen wiper because it had started to rain. Just their luck, the first time they had to make a longer journey by car and it rains. Hasana sighed. There was nothing she could do about that. She had just to make sure they stayed on the road.

They had still many miles before them. Their destination was in the high mountains and the only way to get there was by car. Sure, it was exhausting, but flights were dangerous in more than just one way. Too much traces to be left behind and this needed to be kept quiet and hidden from their enemies and the public.

She and Caryn took turns in driving, so needing fewer breaks; and less breaks meant fewer chances of problems happening due to Caryn's untrained new power.

That left stops for night breaks.

It took nearly half a week until they saw Erinna's house. They were weary and tired from their journey but there simply wasn't any other choice then to go by car the whole way.

It was a beautiful autumn day when they arrived. The sun was shining and the leaves of the trees were sparkling in bright colours of red, orange and golden. One could almost think they were on vacation, if there was such thing as vacation for a witch. Caryn wondered how Erinna had fared since their last meeting. It had been years. She could remember her Uncle's wedding. "That had been really something special," Caryn thought. The celebration had been hold by Erinna's Clan shaman Arain Dawnlight. It had been really a sight to Caryn growing witch senses. All those people of Erinna's clan and from their own made up a spectacle of colours, voices and forms of many kinds. It had been a day of peace and happiness. She was dragged from her reverie by the sudden stop of their car. She looked outside and realizing that, they had reached their destination. 

There she was: Erinna bluish black hair and bright green eyes. The intensity of a bird, the whisper of wings made of soft feathers. Erinna was slim woman. The whisper of feathers were that part of her that was always bird, even in her human shape. Her people hadn't been fully human since they could remember. Each of them bounded with an animal spirit – and that gave them the ability to shift into this form. They were not shape shifters, who could change into anything, but those in turn were not of human or witch kind. One might think about skinwalkers at this, but they were not. They never ever would resort to blood magic.

Erinna was standing in front of the house, next to Ivory, waiting for them.

Caryn and her mother had just gotten out of their car, when Caryn was swept into Erinna's arms.  
"Hi Caryn, long time no see?" Erinna greeted her with a full-fledged grin.

"Yes, it has been." Caryn said with a sad smile at her aunt. "I just wished it would've been under better circumstances", she thought. "How are you and your people Erinna?" Caryn asked her trying to make small talk too smooth her own nervousness, knowing that in the past Erinna's people had some trouble with the government. There had been murders going on and greedy people had been out for their ancestors holy land.

"We are fine. At least right now." Erinna said soothing "No sense in worrying about the unknown child", as sensing Caryn's troubled feelings. They'd not have come here if everything had been right. Something was amiss. Then it hit her: Caryn wasn't the same little girl she'd had known and helped to train to one of their best healers they had today. Well, that was logical. Everyone grew up, eventually.

For once Caryn was all grown up, but there was something that stirred feelings of danger inside her gut. She had to calm herself: This was her niece, her friend not the enemy, but that didn't change the faint vampiric taint in Caryn's aura, she'd just realized.

"Caryn?" Erinna couldn't help the faint yelp of shock but this was unexpected enough.

"I know Eri." Caryn explained. "I'm sorry if it disturbs you, but I can't help it." 

The other woman behind Erinna, Ivory approached them carefully. She was taller than Erinna. Ivory showed short silvery blond hair and the tell tale golden eyes of her kind. Ivory had recognized the taint from the first moment she had laid eyes on Caryn. This was nothing to hide from a three-hundred-something Triste, at least not easily.

"Hello Hasana, it is good to see you again old friend," Ivory, said with sad smile. The circumstances could be better – well they could be worse as well. Ivory thought while greeting her friend.

"Yes, it is old friend." Hasana replied, giving the Triste a slight hug. Feeling relief surging through her. Now, she wasn't alone in this anymore.

Witches of the Smoke line held many connections to other lines, far more than the average witch line does. Some of those connections were rather unusual and some were disliked by their allies of the Vida line. Which was hardly surprising, Vida was not known for tolerance. One of those connections was Hasana and Ivory's friendship. Hasana had called Ivory to help Caryn to learn how to use and control her new powers. Ivory was different, she was eerie even for a Triste. Normally witches of her kind were practically invincible, but they were not truly immortal.

There are few, very few things, which can actually kill a Triste. Ivory had just the luck to met one of those. That's how Hasana and Ivory met. She had saved Ivory's life – and Ivory did not forget.

* * *

------------  
**Authors note:**

Old Man or Dreadnought Hill and Winter Lake in this story are pure fictional places and have nothing to do with their real counterparts. Yes, there is a Dreadnought Hill in Australia. I don't know if there is a lake, which goes by Winter Lake, if there is, it has nothing to do with this one.  
Just think of the names, as name locals sometimes give which sometimes differ greatly from official names.

----------


	6. Facets of the Flame

Awakening – Chapter Six

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Facets of the Flame **

Snowed, it had snowed since the end of the first week, quite early for this time of the year though. Yes, a few weeks have already gone by.

Things had not gone exactly like Hasana had planned. After the day they had arrived Caryn came down with a fever. They had needed four days to fight it down. Four days in which her daughter shifted from one delirious nightmare to another only briefly waking. Hasana shivered with fear of what could have happened, what still could happen if they should fail.

Ivory thought it was the vampiric taint, which caused the newly awakened power to turn against itself.

Not a good thought either, but there was nothing she could do to change that.  
It was still hard to accept.

Hasana had turned her attention back to the present. She though that winter had come early this year.  
Hasana sighed. "Could that be a sign, too?" she wondered briefly, looking through the window. It was already dark outside, but she could watch lazy chunks of snow dancing slowly down to earth.

"If so, than for what?" Hasana thought but had no answer to that question. She just hoped it was just ordinary winter break, nothing special. That was because anything powerful enough to affect the weather was beyond terrible. That much she knew: to mess with nature was to ask for trouble.

Caryn was now with Erinna, hunting. It was already night and Erinna preferred to hunt at night. It was her time, because she would hunt in her owl form. Caryn went with her as she had before countless times. It was strange, but it was very soothing, exactly what she needed right now.

Caryn herself did not hunt, she simply couldn't, but she knew it was essential here. There simply wasn't any other way to get fresh meat for the kitchen. You could not go to Wal-Mart to shop for dinner when the next settlement was more the a hundred miles away.

"We should too." Hasana thought. While the hunt seemed cruel it wasn't. What was done in the mass production of meat, those so-called farms of today, which was cruel.

"Worse," she thought, fighting upcoming nausea, "damned bloodsuckers had to copy that."

"Shh," she told herself. "Have to stop to think those thoughts, they do me no good." 

Hasana had been glad to reach finely Erinna's. There had been one, two times when Caryn almost lost control. Highway motels aren't exactly nice places to stay, sadly. Actually those they met on their journey were, but the two of them had to run into a pack of lycanthropes. Lucky for her and Caryn they were friendly, but as it is with their kind, just too curious. She couldn't help the chuckle at that thought. It would've been funny if it weren't so serious. "If Caryn really had lost control then the motel would be nothing but ashes now." She mused and remembered.

It had been at the end of their first day. They'd had found a motel just in time to rest for the night.  
She and Caryn had come into the local restaurant to eat their evening meal. That was when they came. They meant a group of bikers. "Strange," Hasana thought "it could've been worse if they had been normal humans."

One of them, their leader went to the bar to order a round of beer when he noticed them.

That was also when Hasana recognized their clan, by their aura. They were Silverfang, one of the good guys. That was a very old clan from northern Europe, bound by honour like no other clan.

They had a bit of small talk with them and everything seemed to go well. There was nothing evil among them. They were wild, but that was to be expected. It was naturally.

That was until, probably one of the younger ones made a pass on Caryn, which in turn startled the fires in her; they rose in order to defend her. She had their hands full to calm her down while Shane, their alpha, put the young dog into his place.

"After that we had a very nice evening," Hasana remembered, smiling at that. 

She looked her watch. It was eight thirty, which meant she had at least a few hours on her own.

Hasana was now sitting by the fireplace, reading another part of Elena's journal, again. She'd read over and over again but she still wasn't wiser, but then she knew her ancestor had a habit of hiding the true meaning of her words in plain sight. The Middle Ages had been not an easy time on them.

* * *

From Elena's tenth journal:  
---------------------------------  
------

_Concerning the 'Call of the Flame'_

I it is dying. I can feel it. Every generation it's going weaker and weaker. Soon it's going to vanish completely, I fear. Still, some of us believe this is a good thing, as it should be, but we are losing our identity.

What are we going to become? Going back what we were before?  
I do not know for sure. We were primary healers in the past, we still are.

We never lost our selves and I hope we never will. Anyway, if things going further this way the Call will be lost to us.

Still, I feel that the knowledge has to be kept alive; it might be needed once again.

For this and to keep the memory alive I've written the most important things down in this journal of mine. So thee, child of our clan, need to know about the fire, which had been burned so long through our veins. So thee, wicce of our blood, daughter of Macht, know what to do when it wakes.

---------------------------------------------------------

* * *

Hasana looked up from her reading in Elena's journal again to look straight into the flames of the fireplace. She now had earnest doubts that the gift ever really vanished in the beginning.  
"Had it just waited until the right time to show up again?" She wondered, thinking of the gift as some being with its own intend.

"And if 's that right what does it mean for us?" she shuddered; fearing for what it might be needed.   
"There it its," she thought turning the page. "I wonder why our ancestors called it facets."  
She sighed and took another look at the fire. "A flame hasn't got any facets. So why did she describe as something made up of facets?"

* * *

-------------------------------------------------

_So we have come to look at the flame - and its five facets._

Facets of the Flame 

The flame consists of five parts. These are essential to understanding its call.  
So be aware of them daughter.

Defensio (Defence):

Defence is the most basic ability and very dangerous since it is hard to control 'how' it is going to defend you.  
It needs discipline and strength of will to master this one.

Calor (Warmth):

Warmth is the second basic ability. It is easy to use since its only effect is to keep the user's body warm. Although it has a second part: it can be used to keep someone else warm, but this also needs tight control.  
Uncontrolled, warmth it burns from inside to come down with fever so high one wishes for the coldest winter to come. Warmth is very close to the heart, so thee art careful with it.

_Impetus (Attack): _

It is closely related to Defence, but more rare than the first one. Attack needs very tight control and a clear mind. Be the mind clouded so would the outcome be – clouded, disastrous or both of them. 

Auctoritas (Control):

Control gives thee the ability to manipulate existing flames to thee wishes.  
Very seldom and needs lots of control. Alas without control it controls thee. Be aware of it since it is very alluring.  
Some of my sisters compared its lure to the seducing voice of opium, so one has to be very careful. Never, ever let thee guard down. So thee art warned.

Viva Flamma (Living Flame): 

The Living Flame at last, is the most rare and powerful ability. With this one, one is able to walk through fire without being burnt or hurt of any kind.

No the Living Flame is more. Fire is never going to harm the wielder of this facet of the Flame's call but don't lose thee self. 

_Believe me, it 'is' essential to remember oneself. Thee art not fire!_

It is - it was the most dangerous part of our gift, because one could get lost in it.  
Sadly it was also, the reason for the death of many of our family at the hands of the Inquisition.  
Since it was impossible to hide this very part of our nature. Yes, thee heard right.  
It is not to be controlled, ever.

It's not really surprising, since when did ever one of us control what we are? We are what we are, may it for the best. 

The last three facets were lost to us even in my time. All what we still have are Defence and Warmth. I'm still unsure but the bigger part of me hopes we'll never need these three again.  
For they meant dark times to come. That is at least what I can assume after earlier journals of my ancestors.

I can only pray that it may never needed again, but what can I say:

I, who I do not know the future, and never will.  
Thank the gods for this.  
I can only hope.

Hope for my daughter, son, sister and brother that everything will be right. 

* * *

Hasana sat up with a groan. "Well it tells us that we lost but not how to train." She thought.

"It doesn't help much, now does it?" Ivory asked.

"No, it doesn't – but it's the only source of information we have left." Hasana agreed with a sad smile. "It's all I have to help my daughter. I wished Monica were still alive."

She cursed under her breath. She couldn't help it, but she did hate them. "I'm not so different from Dominique, really." She murmured, "I, too, hate them. I can't help it, only I've not the power to fight them."

Hasana turned her gaze to the Triste, who now sat on the other side of the fireplace, facing her.

"Ivory, I don't know if I'm strong enough for this," Hasana said quietly, despair etching to her voice.

"You have to, Hasana." Ivory gave her a steely gaze, "for her sake, you have. You don't have a choice."

"I know," Hasana agreed, "but Monica is gone, and I am alone in this." She had buried her head in her hands.

Ivory pried Hasana's hands from her face; she was looking her straight into her pale blue eyes. She gave Hasana an encouraging smile. "But you are not alone. You have me, Erinna and your own stubbornness to fight with - and Caryn's too." Ivory firmly disagreed. 

"You believe?"

"Yes, I do." Ivory gave her wry grin. "She's at least as stubborn as any Smoke witch I've ever met."

"She has to be." Hasana nodded, releasing Ivory's hands.

"Where is she anyway?" Ivory asked to distract Hasana from her serious thoughts.

"She's with Rinna out hunting." She said with a smile. "Yes," she thought, "I am not alone."

"That's good." Ivory said after awhile, giving Hasana a warm smile.  
Her voice was soft like falling feathers were.

"You really think?" Hasana queried bothered by the sudden strange undertone of the Triste.  
Hasana might have known Ivory for years but there were times when she had trouble to understand her. "Triste ways," she mused. "I'll have trouble understanding them sometimes."

"Yes, it is. Of all things she needs balance." Ivory explained as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. Though, Ivory knew that in real live, balance is the hardest thing to achieve.

"I agree." Hasana replied. "In all this chaos she needs some peace. "But I still have trouble understanding Elena."

"So, back to business?" Ivory sat herself into the chair next to her, taking a look at the journal Hasana had been reading. "Elena's eleventh journal?"

"Yes, it is." Hasana showed her the part she had her problems with.

"I see. So, where do the problems lie?" She asked, looking curious at the text in front of her.

"Hm, I got a lot of information about the gift Ivory." Hasana replied, "but nothing that really helps."

"So, what do you have?" The Triste raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I still don't know how to train it." Hasana said. "She, Elena refers to the power having five facets. I can't help but I feel I need to know why."

"Why she calls them 'facets'?" Ivory asked thoughtfully. "You know the word facet has a close relationship with scale, as least as it was used in this journal."

"Scale?" Hasana looked confused.

"Yes. First those five facets describe a rating scale of sorts. Second a facet on a jewel shows some similarities to a serpents scale – in a way." Ivory explained, knowing that the latter wasn't easy to see. Especially in the way, the term scale was used in the old ages. It referred too often to a being of supernatural origin. In this case Ivory knew it could only refer to a dragon's scale.

"Stars!! The scales describe various stages of strength and controllability!" Hasana exclaimed, suddenly realising what she had overlooked all the time.

"It had been in front of me." She muttered unbelieving. "And still I haven't seen it."

"How can I help my daughter if I fail to understand a simple text?" Hasana asked with despair in her voice. She had been so sure of herself, all the time, always. But now?

Ivory didn't answer, just pulled her friend into a tight hug.

-----------------------------


	7. A Little Chaos

Awakening – Chapter Seven

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**A Little Chaos**

…doesn't do any harm, now does it?

---

Jager had been a bit restless for the last few months. Something was going on, something bad.  
He had been moving restless from one place to another, uneasy about the source of his own discomfort.

New Mayhem was quiet, boring.

It felt too quiet to him after the uproar about Ash Night's writings. Business went well and there was for once no trouble with Vida, in other words: he was not needed.

Even his dark daughter Fala and the newly turned Jessica kept quiet; they avoided each other. "Probably gone with Aubrey," he smirked with irony, knowing that the latter had fallen victim to the very thing he always had despised: love.

While many thought vampires cared only for themselves, it was not entirely true for him. Jager had a heart, but he wasn't human. He cared for what was his, especially did he care about the greater image, and about the balance of power in the great game you called life.

"Balance," he muttered and suddenly he knew with absolute clarity that this silence could not be right.

Yes, it was silence, but it felt like the silence before the storm. And right now he didn't know what kind of storm to expect. Needless to say Jager didn't like not to know what troubles he should expect. "It is very fortunate to know what game was played," he smirked. "Got to find out."

So he needed time away, needed time to learn what gamble this was.

And gamble it was, he felt, felt it in his gut.

New Mayhem wasn't the right place for that. Not the right place to listen for life's heartbeat, too quiet right now. Not surprising, most citizens of New Mayhem where dead.

The source wasn't here; he had to search elsewhere. So he left it behind, maybe for few days maybe for a few decades or even a century or two. Didn't matter how long, he had time enough.

He went to LA and New York to listen to the rumours of the mortal world. Those places were the breeding ground of chaos, naturally. Actually, it turned out to be more interesting than he had expected.

He sniggered. In LA he ran into a hideous stupid Unseelie, who in turn tried its charms on him.  
It, a supernatural being of the Otherworld, had him mistaken for a mere human, ridiculous ha!

It should have known different, even fully shielded as he had been, to disguise him to other vampires, it really should have known better.

It had been disguised as very gorgeous woman, but underside that was a very strange looking being with too many limbs for his taste. He could see through its glamour right into its far too big eyes.

This was a bar, and the Unseelie did the usual. Impersonating a woman to prey on unaware men.

He had played along. Playing human had never been so entertaining.

"This one had brought this on all by itself," he thought. "So, you thought to do it in an dark alley. How stereotype."

"No, I guessed I expected too much." He was disappointed. This one wasn't really any challenge.

Still….

Jager turned around, bringing it between him and the cul-de-sac's end.

"This ends here." He sent to the surprised Unseelie.

He was met with huge terror shadowed eyes, but it was already too late.

He let out a snigger and then he stuck.

Unseelie blood didn't taste all that bad, if you knew how to avoid the dangers.

And he knew, yes, he knew. Oh, well he knew that was a gamble too, but who do you speak too?

Ah, but the taste - made it all worthwhile.

"Yes, and the knowledge weren't bad, too." He thought, realizing that according its memories something rather strange had been going on here.

He would have left it to itself, but the Unseelie had breached the unspoken treaty first by trying to prey on him, Jager, another being of the supernatural plane. You, see this was one of the unspoken rules, which applied to Seelie and Unseelie alike. Well, a Seelie would've never approached him like that. Well, this is really interesting.

There had been a nearly fatal war among lycanthropes among other things. Thus giving the authorities mighty trouble dealing with. Well, a full-blown war among garou wasn't something one would meddle in freely, even remotely. Wasn't pretty.

Further then that there had been unrest among the other supernatural beings in LA. There were rumours that many had fled. No one knew why.

"Well, might be because of the garou." He wondered.

Besides this, there had been murders spread, political mud, business espionage and so on.

He shook his head. It was too much information right now. You see, that is one of the risks of taking fairyblood, too much information. It drives most vampires mad for a while, but Jager was one of the strongest and the oldest. He could handle it.

"Aargh, but I need silence." He muttered and disappeared.

He had brought himself to the shore, somewhere in California. Listening to the wind's tales and the seafolk's whispers. What ever you heard about Vampire's avoiding water, forget it!

Jager liked the shore.

"Ah, that is better." He sighed with relief and sat down on the warm sand. It was a beautiful beach, but tonight he had no eyes for the romantic seascape in front of him.

"So, we have a war de garou, a supernatural mass panic, murders and all kinds of political tangle." He concluded.

"Or in other words: chaos." He sniggered.

"Well, it does fit you, doesn't it?" Someone asked, a soft voice, coming somewhere from the waters. It was a voice, which sounded familiar. "So, human was out of the question." He smirked.

He looked around.

He found a mermaid, with unbelievable long golden hair, watching him. Said hair had been the last many sailors had seen.

"Ah, in a way it does Loreley." He replied, not really surprised seeing her there.

She comes often to this beach. She really loved this lonely beach, which humans would seldom visit. Too far from the hotels or any safe harbour. The reef was quite a sight through, so she had to avoid divers. You could not have everything.

"But you are worried." She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." He agreed. "You know me too good." He smiled.

"So, what's next Jager?" She asked with a playful smirk. Yes, she was quiet a sight as she sat on one of the rocks which reached out of the water, playing idle with the waves.

"New York, Lore." He said. "LA was interesting, so I like to know what's New York's going to be."

"You love the unexpected, don't you old gambler?" She gave him a full grin, quite a spectacle actually showing a lot of her magnificent figure out of the water. Skin like silk-coated moonlight.  
Good, there were no mortals around.

"Ah, Yes I do." He agreed returning her grin.

Then he vanished once again.

"See you along." She said and vanished with a splash of her back fin into the waters below. Gone, back to the deep open sea where she did belong.

New York turned out to be a bit of a disappointment after Los Angeles.

After New York he turned to the north, to the wilderness, to think.

Jager had always been kind of fond of mountains, mountains with lot of snow surrounded by old forests.

"Who needs civilisation when we got something like this?" He thought to himself.  
While many vampires pretended to be human, he never did. For what reason should he pretend? He didn't thought of himself as evil. He wasn't good either.

No, he was part of nature just like any other predator of the wild. He hadn't been human for an aeon, or two. He had forgotten. He smiled to himself. Maybe he had never been.  
Humans had been different then, not so weak, more in balance with themselves. He smiled a wry grin about this.

They had forgotten, forgotten about themselves. Lost in technology and greed for money.

This was where he belonged, to the wild untamed land. He wasn't named Jager for 'no' reason.  
Another smirk at that thought, oh, how true that name was.

He had come often here in the last few centuries or so. It reminded him of the forests of the old world, as they had been until the late eighteenth century. There were endless trees and lots of deer among other things. Well, these trees were as big and the mountains were covered with snow. He felt no human settlement for miles. That was just fine.

Wilderness as it should be, true and savage, not meant for civilised humans.

"Civilized, New York, L.A. and all those big cities are hardly civilized," He smirked "Only most do not realize that." They reminded him more than anything of a modern jungle.

And that they were.  
But now he came here to think about the strange happenings he had come to know of. He needed silence – he found it on this mountain range.

New York had turned out rather boring. Well, that was until he had heard about the fires. There had been fires in New York, a lot. Fires, each one meant a witch sacrificed. He knew there had been witches burnt, even if the public didn't knew about that detail.

While he had been in New York there had been a near mass panic about those fires, because one of them took a whole block down. Still they had been lucky, very lucky.  
He remembered the big fire back in sixties.

He wasn't completely unaffected either. It reminded him too much of the burning of original Mayhem. "Kaei" he muttered.

He investigated it, but that turned out to be just some ordinary case of arson, of sorts.

At least that was what he got from the mind of the firestarter, who he had caught.  
He smirked, remembering the panic on the man's face. The man had thought he would be brought to the police.

There hadn't been any need for that.

Still, he wasn't quite sure. There were too many ways for manipulation to be sure. He of all people should know

The arsonist clearly had a connection to someone else. Who he found not out: the man never met his boss. The arsonist had been only contacted by phone. "Oh, well I can remember a voice as good as anything else."

It was a puzzle. He grinned. "A new Game."

He just had found a new game. "So, who ever you are, let's play!"

++-------------+++


	8. Fire Dance

Awakening – Chapter Eight

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Fire Dance**

Watch it, watch them!  
Watch the flames dancing...  
How graceful they move.  
--------  
They appear to be alive ...  
... so beautiful, yet so dangerous...  
... if out of control.  
--------------  
Dancing to an unknown melody...  
Dancing until the song ends.  
Watch the flames dance to your melody...  
-------

"Set them alight and join them..." Caryn whispered the last line of the old song, still starring into the flames. She'd found the song in one of her mother's books. Well, her mother had translated it for her, as Caryn didn't understand much of the Old English these words it had been written in.

"Who am I? What am I? I don't know anymore." She said to the flames before her. Of course they did not answer – but she wasn't sure if she wanted them to answer.

That would be just too weird.

She had changed, much more than she first thought but differently than she had feared. Change had come so fast to her.

One moment everything was fine, the next there had been chaos. "I'm not sure how to handle all this. This would be normally the part where one would freak, but that's the very thing I have to prevent at all cost." She thought sadly.

"This is a place of peace," She murmured, "why then do I feel so out of balance?"

"Fire" she thought, wondering what it really meant to her now. She looked up, realizing that the soft rain of snow had turned into something akin to a snowstorm. She looked at a white wall.

"Well, it is bit early for so much snow even for this place." She wondered, while knowing that it was really not the unusual for winter to come early on the mountain range. 

Caryn sat quietly in front of the fireplace. She had been watching the flames for quite a while, while deep in thought.

Once fire was just another elemental form to me. But now? Now, I am bound to it, quite tight actually I feel. It talks now. It's a strange yet beautiful melody.

But to me it's as easy to hear as I can see it dancing in its fireplace.

They were easy to hear but difficult to understand.

"My mother was right to bring me here. This place has a soothing effect on me. And it's simply beautiful here." She smiled at these thoughts forgetting all that happened for the moment.

Ivory was watching Caryn. Ivory was a more than tree-centuries old Triste who was also specialist of training witch powers. She was an adept aura reader. To her a person's aura told her much more than the average witch.

Her real name was not Ivory; it would be too difficult to pronounce for modern day people, it would sound also weird. So, she preferred Ivory, for it was a good description of her. She wasn't beautiful in the classic sense, too many hard edges and angles.

The Smoke family held many connections to other witches because of their healing abilities. Even to ones like the Triste, who normally refused to consort with anybody than their own kind. But Ivory held a special connection to Hasana because once she had saved her.

Yes, normally Triste are practically invincible, but there are a few things that can even harm them seriously.

Now Ivory couldn't help but she had to be thinking about the very Beginning of the Smoke Line. That had been a long time ago, even for her. She was only a little more than three hundred years old and those things had happened at least two millennia ago. That had been after right after they had abandoned the ways of Vida.

So long ago, that there is only myth left, myth about dragons, about blood and fire.  
Dragon's blood mingled with witch blood. At least that was one of the legends.  
What ever really happened, she did not know.

But she could see one thing clearly:  
Fire - she saw it burning in the fireplace as well as in Caryn's aura.

When Ivory had met Hasana first, she had been seriously wounded by a poisoned arrow. Hasana had healed her and since then the two of them had been friends. That arrow had been drunk into demon blood. It was one of the very few things, which would poison a Triste.

"That had been a very hard fight to be won Hasana," Ivory remembered, knowing that it had almost killed the older Smoke witch. Fate was sometimes more than ironic. There had been more than a chance she could have been gone before Monica. "I am gracious that it wasn't, this time."

For hours Caryn had been watching the flames but now suddenly she turned around. Just as if the soothing dance of the flames suddenly had become too much for her. 

"Fire" she thought again. "It's worse enough that I haven't got a clue how to control this strange thing inside me, but does it have to talk in strange voices to me?" She muttered under her breath.

Ivory felt like she had to break the silence, pull Caryn out of her dark thoughts. 

"Caryn?" The Triste asked carefully.

Caryn turned around, startled that she wasn't alone. 

"Ivory?" She asked, surprised seeing the Triste there. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching, Caryn, just watching the fire." The Triste replied with a dry smile of her own.

Silence again, as the both of them were watching the fire.

"So what is it telling you?" She continued, pointing at the flames inside the fireplace, which danced merrily painting the room with a warm glow of gold.

"I don't know Ivory." Caryn replied. "I can hear it, feel it inside and outside. But it's like listening to a foreign language I've never heard before. I do not understand it and still..." She stopped, suddenly not knowing how to express her thoughts. 

"Are the flames calling you?" Ivory inquired, trying hard to remember all she knew about this certain gift, which wasn't much, still she had to try. Ivory knew that they had to gather as much information as possible; Caryn needed to learn control.

"Yes, they are." she whispered. "It burns inside, you know? How do I make it stop?"

"It burns …" Ivory repeated, suddenly taking a step closer, putting a hand on Caryn's forehead.

"So, you certainly have warmth." The Triste stated the obvious. "And Defence too," she thought, remembering why Caryn was now here.

"Yes, indeed I have, but it really does burn." Caryn agreed. "How do I stop the burning?" she asked.

"How do we get the fever to drop?" Ivory replied, almost a whisper. Suddenly she remembered the early snow outside. "It is cold outside." She pointed to the window.

"Cold." Caryn agreed. "Cold decreases the heat. But what about the snow?"

"It looks worse than it is. The real storm isn't coming for a day or so." The Triste said thoughtfully. Knowing about weather patterns was part of Ivory's Triste gift.

"Come Caryn, let's go for a little walk." Ivory had a sudden idea on how to help Caryn.

"What about mom?" Caryn asked unsure. Caryn knew her mother tried everything in her powers to help, but she had her issues with the taint. Caryn herself wasn't sure she wanted her mother with her right now, doing aura work with her. Aura work tended to become rather intense and you could not hide your own basic emotions. 

"You know she has her problems with the height. I would like her to go with us too, but you know she just gets sick." Ivory answered sadly, knowing that Hasana would suffer greatly from mountain sickness if she would go to such heights.

"No, I don't want that." Caryn agreed with a sigh.

"Come get your winter clothes, we're saying hello to little old Dreadnought Hill." She had to grin at this. Sure Dreadnought Hill was not its official name – but it was appropriate. That mountain was a challenge to anyone who tried to climb it.

"Eh, I am not good at climbing," Caryn protested.

"We won't climb it. I thought we should just go to Winter Lake." Ivory explained. She gave Caryn a measuring glance. "Yes, that will be a good place to start." She murmured.

And it was good they did not try to climb it, there were too many snow and ice covered ridges. Those were death-traps to anyone who'd dared to climb it.

Ivory took them out to the snow covered mountain ridge, up to the old smuggler's trail. It took them about half an hour to get there. There it was: Winter Lake, covered in veils of snow, hardly visible among the masses of white.

"So, how are you now Caryn?" Ivory asked. "Are you still burning?"

"Yes, no, it is better." Caryn said confused. "So, what do you want me to do?" She knew, that Ivory wouldn't have brought them here for nothing. That was not the Triste way.  
"Now, you sit down and close your eyes." Ivory explained.

"You want me to meditate?" Caryn realized.

"Yes, I do." With that Ivory let go of her own outer shields and joined Caryn. Watching her over.

"Let go." Ivory whispered in a melodic sing-song voice. "Let go of the physical."

Caryn did. Now, there were only colours and strings of forms.

She saw Ivory's silver form with her inner eye.

The Triste's aura was quite different from the witches of her line. There were so many shades of silver – and sparks of white. Caryn knew that what she saw was very rare. Triste witches learned very early to hide her true aura. To everyone but the closest friends they appeared completely ordinary; and they had little friends, because of their nature.

She saw herself, made up of bright emerald and golden fire accompanied with a few crimson shadows. She took in a sharp breath. Those crimson shadows hadn't been there before.

"Everything all right, darling?" Ivory asked concerned.

"Yes." Caryn answered slowly, accepting the shadows. She knew she had to.

"Good." The silver just shifted a bit, revealing a deep blue core of pure sapphire.

"Beautiful," Caryn thought.

"So are you." The silver whispered.

"Do you feel the lake?" Ivory asked. "Tell me what you see."

Caryn turned her attention to the lake, only to take in another deep breath, again.

"It's not there, Ivory. There isn't a lake." Caryn said astonished.

"Yes, there is, Caryn. Look deeper." The silver touched Caryn's greens and gold, touched even the crimson shadows, no fear there. Touched to show her what she saw.

"Oh!" Caryn exclaimed, taken by sheer surprise.

"How Ivory?" Caryn wondered. "How could the lake be both there and not there?"

"It is sealed, Caryn." Ivory explained finely, smiling a secretive smile. "Sealed by ancient magic."

"Triste?" Caryn wondered aloud.

"No, much older." The Triste chuckled warmly. "Oh, so much older."

"I just wanted you to see that we are safe here." She explained further.

"Now, I want you to let go of 'all' your shields." She added.

Caryn starred at the Triste in shock.

"You serious?" She asked, knowing what Ivory offered to do would be something very private. Caryn, herself wasn't quite sure if she wanted to do that.

"Yes." The Triste now held Caryn's hands tightly. "You do trust me, don't you?"

"Yes." She said; it was the truth.

"Then trust me in this, please? It's essential." Ivory pleaded.

"All right." Caryn agreed. "Yes, I do it." She let go.

It was nothing she ever experienced. It was unbelievable.

"Forget what you know about aura-work." Ivory whispered into her mind.

Now, this was amazing. It felt like being held by silver silk or something very alike.

Caryn could hardly distinguish between them. Thus were the tangled up into each other.

Well, talk about private.

"Amazing." she whispered, it felt wonderful still it was weird.

"Yes, it is indeed." A warm laughter she heard, laugher covered in millions of tiny stars.

Caryn could feel every emotion Ivory felt right now. This was indeed a very private thing. She felt almost giddy about so much trust. There weren't any feelings of disgust coming. She suddenly realized.

"Why?" She had to know, had to form this into words. If even her own mother felt disgusted because of her aura, how did it came that Ivory, a Triste – a born vampire hunter, felt nothing of that sort for her?

"Because there is nothing to be disgusted about." Ivory smiled a bittersweet smile, answering the unspoken question. A smile, which felt like the breeze of butterfly, wings, on a hot summer day.

"Most vampires are not exactly evil, little darling." Another chuckle. "Many have the beauty of all wild things." A touch of feathers, softest of downs.

"But you kill them never the less." Caryn stated the obvious.

"Yes, I do." The Triste agreed gravely. "But I do not have to hate them."

"You do only your duty." Caryn realized, suddenly understanding.

"Now now, we ought to back for what we came for." She said and led Caryn straight to it.

"There." Ivory led her direct to the middle of Caryn's swirling colours. A tangle of gold, rubies and emeralds.

"There, Ivory?" Caryn asked quietly. "This nest of jewels?"

"Yes, right there. Now ground it." The Triste commanded and smiled. "Yes this was right, absolutely right.".

Caryn tried to catch them; they flied out of reach like a bunch of butterflies.

She tried again; she got them but failed to bind them to the ground.

She wasn't fast enough.

The next time she tried they slipped through her imaginary hands like water.

"No, not like this," the silver shadows whispered, "there!" The silver pulled her to the core, and then it left her there. "Now!" It said determined.

Caryn reached once again; she felt the colours melding together.

She smiled.

"Perfect." The silver smiled back.

Caryn smiled, feeling the burning ceasing to very pleasing warmth.  
"Yes, it is Ivory." Feeling warm satisfaction at this, her success.

"Wonderful." Ivory agreed with a grin of her own.

For a while the remained like this.

Then they returned to the physical world of snow and ice around them.

It was after midnight now, they realized. The moon already descending.

"So, what do you think, can we go home now?" Caryn asked, trying hard to stop herself from yarning.

Whew, was she tired.

"Of course, darling." Ivory agreed aloud. "No sense in working you over, now is there?" Another grin.

"No, there isn't" Caryn agreed with another smile of happiness. Happiness she believed to be lost to her, until now.

They hadn't smiled so much since they had arrived.

This night Caryn slept in peace for once. No nightmares to disturb her sleep.

The next few days everything went well; they felt like getting though to it, real improvement.

Even the snow had ceased to fall, to Ivory's dismay, as she had been so certain to expect a snowstorm. That brought her a lot of teasing, actually, but it was good to laugh.

They got some really wonderful winter days.

Days Caryn spent doing research with her mother, practicing with Ivory and hunting with Erinna.

Caryn hadn't felt so good since that incident.

But the weather didn't stay. The snow came back a few days later, full force.

Exactly as Ivory had forecasted earlier.

So, talk about foresight and irony, it seems those two go together more often than not.

But the snow meant that they had to spend their time inside.

_There could be things worse._


	9. Storm Warning

Awakening – Chapter Nine

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Storm Warning**  
----------

So hear the wail of the messenger

to avoid destruction,

for the storm is underway,

better listen carefully -

so ye be prepared!

-------------

The Council Of Might had come together early this year.

In this council were members of almost every kind of witch represented. But this meeting had been called in much earlier than normal. It was kind of an emergency meeting and the atmosphere was heated. There were as always not only those with Council duty present, as this was an opportunity for exchanging news. But there were less than at the last meeting, since this meeting was out of the usual line.

Everyone was nervous since most witches didn't trust each other much; not many of them were normally mortal enemies but Council time was a time of truce. There were the Arun, Smoke, Vida, Shapeshifter of clan Silverfang and of course their host: the Triste. Well, Dominique wasn't nervous - it was not of the Vida way to be nervous. She had faced worse - this was uneasy but necessary for stability.

Then she spotted Mikhail Smoke and took in instinctual deep breath. "I knew it." She thought annoyed. No, Dominique was not particularly fond of Mikhail. She didn't made a hail of it.  
It was useless on him anyway.

"Well well, there are you right Dominique." She heard suddenly in her head. "The nerve." She thought annoyed. "And he enjoys it, too."

His only reaction was a knowing smirk. Mikhail had changed into something more appropriate than what he usually wore, Dominique recognized. He wore a tunica made of blue velvet above leather trousers. He looked handsome as always, eerie, with his shining long blond hair, it was almost white, and pale blue eyes.

"Well, hello Dominique." He greeted her aloud, not bothering with offering her his hand to shake. He disliked touch since his early childhood.

"Mikhail Smoke." She acknowledged him, doing her best to stay calm. "I am Vida, so damn him." She told herself.

"Hasana didn't tell me she would get you to take her place." Dominique said.

"Sis didn't have to and you know that too." He explained. Yes, he was right Dominique should have known but she had been preoccupied.

"So, what do you think of the current situation?" Dominique asked, getting down to business.

"I don't know." Mikhail answered, thus surprising her.

"Really?" Dominique queried, exited that she found a weakness in him.

"Yes and no, it's not that easy. It certainly feels dark, but there are too many possibilities." He explained. True, his gift made it possible to see the future but what he saw were many different futures to be exact. And right now he couldn't sort them out either.

"I see." She replied. "You're not that all knowing most believe."

"Never said I was." He replied with one of his trademark smirks.

"Come it's time; we ought to go." He said and they went to the prepared Council Room.

Inside was a huge round marble table with a pentagram on its surface. There was one seat for each witch line, one for their hosts, the Triste, one for Arun, Smoke, Vida and Shapeshifter.  
One seat was left empty; it was the one for Light. It had been left empty to honour their ceased sisters and brothers of the Light line. There was no one left to take their seat.

The room felt eerie because of the heavy shielding with curtains made of silk. It was too quiet.  
Dominique knew little of what had really happened but that what she knew was bad enough.

Alone that the Triste had called in this meeting was proof enough that something major was wrong.

Strange things had happened in the last few weeks. First some of them had been discovered by normal humans. "Well, that had been annoying." She thought, remembering the headlines which stated that 'Witch War in New York'. Only they had gotten that completely wrong, it had not been a war among witches. It had been a rather unsuccessful attempt to calm a feud between two rival werewolf clans.

Further there had been witches of almost every kind killed. Someone had caught them and burnt them at the stake like in the middle ages. 

When the chosen leader of Triste for this meeting appeared, she was met by silence, silence and astonishment. Of all Triste they had to send Nevà d'Arkienne their queen by right of birth.

She was one of the oldest of them, and the most beautiful. So old in fact, that nobody really knew if this was her born name. Nobody dared to ask anyway. Nevà was the one not to be asked about. She was beautiful enough to put any angel to shame, but a beautiful angel with a non-angelic temper.

But after astonishment there came fear, fear for the reason she was here. Normally one of the lesser Triste leaders would take her Council seat, even if it was an emergency meeting.

Dominique looked around and couldn't help but to realise that the people being here represented certain archetypes:

There was the Queen Nevà with her Knight Alexander at her side, then there was Mercenary Diana Arun, Bard Mikhail Smoke, Hunter Sharon and Damien Silverfang, and of course herself Warrior Dominique Vida.

"What are we? The Knight's of the Round Table?" She thought sarcastically.

Mikhail gave her a smirk on this.

"Out of my head." She thought back.

"I wasn't, believe me. " He sent back. "But your thoughts are rather loud."

He sent her another smirk.

"Nerve!" She thought, this time trying to keep her shields up.

Nevà waited for them to take their seats, then She opened the Council.

"This is a dark time we have come together." She began paused a moment for effect before continuing. "There have been fires." She said finely, shocking her audience.

"Fires, lady Nevà, truly fires, fires as in the middle ages?" Diana Arun questioned, trying not to show her fear – fear was weakness and she wasn't fond of weaknesses.

Nevà smiled sadly then turned around and nodded to Alexander, who stood just a step behind her.  
On this he took a step forward looking questioningly at his queen.

"Please go ahead Alexander." She just replied.

"As you wish my Lady." He nodded in agreement. "As to answer your question." He paused to gather himself.

"Yes it is true, sadly." Alexander explained as was requested. "We have several reports of witches being burned. Chained and burned alive as centuries ago." He could remember his own fear back then, after he had found out about his powers.

"And before you asked they were verified to be truly witches. Witches of all kinds have been killed alike, even Triste." He added his eyes only slightly betraying the shock he saw in their eyes.

"Lady?" He turned to his leader, waiting for further instructions.

"Here, give them these." Nevà nodded sadly and gave him a scroll.

"Ah, yes as you wish." He agreed and gave the document to the other witches, so they could read on their own.

He was met by silence as they went through the lines of it. Silence caused by dread at these numbers written on paper.

"Alexander?" Dominique was the first to break the silence, putting herself together.

"Yes, Dominique?" He replied.

"That can't be true." She said; her voice was unusually trembling. "If this is true we lost more than a third of our people."

They had known that something bad had happened. They had even known that witches had been vanished – but they had not known the full extend. This was more than a shock.

But they struggled and finely managed to keep their calm, even an uneasy one.

Then the real debate started, as always.

Suddenly someone screamed. Everyone stood still.

Dominique looked startled who had screamed. It was Mikhail, "Mikhail Smoke, mind healer and shaman, annoying as hell." she thought and wondered "What made you crying out like this?"

She like many other witches felt uneasy around him because of what he was, of his psychic gifts. In short Mikhail was a telepath and clairvoyant, both things, which made Dominique, feel uneasy. She certainly didn't like people who could look into the inside of her, knowing her innermost thoughts.

True, she knew that he would never break anyone's trust like that. She remembered him saying once, that the human mind isn't that interesting.

That didn't change anything, that and the fact he liked to startle her, made her very uneasy around him. "I, Dominique Vida, don't get startled." She reassured herself. "So, why do I feel so uncertain, right now?"

Mikhail looked terrified. They had been in the midst of a heated discussion on how to deal with the killing of witches when he suddenly screamed.

"Mikhail?" She asked, approaching him carefully not daring to touch him, not knowing what happened. And most important: She did not know what would happen if someone would touch him.

Touch did support telepathy after all, highly.

"What have you seen?" What ever it had been, it had to be important to reach him through all those layers of protection wards the Triste had applied to this building. She shuddered. "No, nothing too good."

But he was gone, too far away to hear her voice. Captured by his vision. "Dark," he whimpered "So dark and blood, so much blood."

"What are you seeing?" Dominique inquired again hoping he heard her this time.

"Pain, so much pain." he whispered in horror. "Not, just burned, tortured. They are looking for something." He stopped then "No, not something someone."

"Noooo!" He screamed again.

Then in the blink of the eye the vision was gone. Mikhail looked up at Dominique tears running freely down his face.

Horror was shining in his bright blue eyes - horror and sadness. "Why? Why are they doing this?" He asked her looking her straight in the eyes.

She had suddenly the feeling they had to hurry, but didn't know why.

Then, Something whispered to him:

Close your eyes - leave everything behind and see what lurks in the shadow of tomorrow, Mikhail!

He heard a snigger – and suddenly he was completely normal again. Mikhail shook his head.

"Dominique Vida?" He asked. "What had happened?"

"What, what?" Dominique replied, her voice bordering to hysteric. "Do you remember anything?"

He looked just confused, as if waking from sleep under drug influence.  
"A moment, Dominique Vida, please?" he send back, pleading, not bothering with speaking aloud.

"Al right" Dominique agreed eventually. "You get your moment. Just try not to do that again, would you?" Sarcasm was tripping from her voice.

"I'll try." He agreed, taking a deep breath. His mind was in tangles, tangles that needed untangling.

"Oh, that's really wonderful." Dominique thought not caring if he heard her or not. "First he had the nerve to give us an heart attack and now he doesn't remember anything."

"Ehem." Nevà began, trying to get everything ordered again.

"So what happened right now?" She inquired finely.

"He had a vision, Lady. That's what happened." Dominique answered instead of Mikhail, who was still confused about his vision.

"That's impossible." Nevà disagreed. "The shields make it impossible to reach the planes in between."

Everyone looked at Mikhail, again.

"You are right, it shouldn't have happened." He agreed.

"But I'm afraid, Lady Nevà, I had nevertheless a rather disturbing vision." Mikhail concluded knowing this was important. "Shields or not, they had to know." He thought determined.

"But…" Nevà was for once wordless. This had never happened before, to her knowledge.

Their shields should by all means have prevented this, and her people the Triste were the best at these things. They had centuries of knowledge about magic.

"The shields should have prevented this, shouldn't they?" Sharon asked.

"So, what do we know if they are still up and at full force?" Her brother Damien completed her thought.

"Yes, what do we know about those shields?" Added Diana Arun.

"There still there." Alexander suddenly said, with an absent expression on his face.

They heard Nevà releasing a deep breath.

And as suddenly the tension came it was gone.

"So, that's about the shields. I say we still have to take a closer look onto the vision." Dominique reminded, trying to pull them back to the really important things.

"Of course, you are right Dominique." Nevà agreed, and then turned her glance to Mikhail.

"So, Mikhail, please tell us what you remember."

"All right, Lady Nevà, Ladies, but please sit down." He took a deep breath. "Believe me you better sit down."

"It began with darkness, endless cold darkness." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get a better hold on his memories. "Then there was fire, every kind of fire. But at first the fires were just that, fires."

He opened his eyes, to look them into the eyes; it was an eerie glance.

"Then the fires were not empty anymore. I heard screams, many screams. Screams of pain and despair while burning alive." He remembered torture in more ways he never wanted to see again, but there was no need to burden them with the images in detail.

He paused for a moment to let it sink in.

"Those were the witches, we lost through the fires, weren't they?" Dominique asked to verify what she just heard.

"Yes, they were." He answered.

"But there is more Mikhail?" Nevà asked, feeling that there was more, something more sinister.

"Yes, the first fire I saw had pentagram form." His voice not much more than whisper, for he knew what that image meant. He wished he didn't.

"Are you sure?" They asked, alarmed.

"I'm afraid so. The pentagram was upside-down." He confirmed.

-----------------------------


	10. In Shadows

Awakening Chapter Ten

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**In Shadows**

It is said she slept.  
And she did, slept in the Shadows of the World.  
In the Shadows of Time.  
------  
The Shadows of Evermore.  
In the Shadows of Between – the Beyond.  
She still sleeps, but she dreams now.  
-------------  
Dreams of the Past, of the Things long gone.  
But she does not know.  
For her the Dream is now.  
-----------------------  
She herself does not know Time, eternal as she is.  
Does not know Age nor Illness.  
She just is.  
--------------  
And she still sleeps.  
Gold glitters in the Dark, on her Hides, as she moves in her Sleep.  
Stirred by Dreams – a Nightmare?  
Still her Eyes are firmly closed.  
---------  
Not seeing the World.  
She does not wake.  
Not yet.


	11. Under the Ice

Awakening Chapter Eleven

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Under the Ice**

Elsewhere at Dreadnaught Hill Caryn watched the glittering ice of a frozen lake.

_------------------_

_Under the ice ..._

_what might there be to find?_

_A fortune lost?_

_A kingdom forgotten?_

_Or, maybe thy own heart?_

_Come say it aloud._

_Come closer and find out!_  
---------------------------------------------

Caryn had come out to Winter Lake, again. This time Erinna was with her. It was a beautiful winter night with the moon reflecting on the lake's frozen surface.

The world seemed to be at peace for once. One could almost believe this was a holiday, but of course that's only a deception. Even that bright white wilderness around was as dangerous as beautiful.

The Snow Lake was also called Winter Lake since it was frozen even at summer time. Yeah, it was frozen and that was the reason they went here.

Ivory thought, that here I could get a better understanding of my gift. Understanding its very nature would be the first step to really get control over it. Ivory knew that my gift was very different from her own. While as a Triste she could influence fire she could not call it, that one even Caryn knew.

The Triste manipulated fire by using air elemental – thus providing more or less oxygen for the fire.

They had achieved basic control ever since their first lakeside meeting.

Caryn couldn't help starring at the frozen lake before, ever since their first session.  
Starring in wonder – the lake felt strangely alive, ice had become alive to dance glittering under the moonlight.  
A lake made of moonstone.

Beautiful, peace she felt inside, a peace she now shared with Erinna.

"It is a fine night for a hunt," She thought while looking up from the lake's frozen surface.

"Eri?" She sent to the white owl that sat on her shoulder-pad. Erinna loved to be in owl form, a lot. She loved being able to fly, but her owl form limited her to mind speech. Owl beaks were hardly made for human language.

"Yes, Ryn?" Came the answer with a purr like undertone. Caryn could feel her own happiness mirroring from her friend.

"Let's hunt." Caryn smiled, feeling the excitement coming from her bird friend.

"Good." Erinna replied as she soared into the night sky.

Yes, this is going to be nice night.

"No, scratch that, it is a wonderful night." Caryn thought and followed her owl friend.

Erinnas's owl wings were more felt than to be heard. She flew silent as any other owl. It was just a whisper, not heard by any ears. More like a feeling, the feeling of the soft night breeze under her wings, just out of hearing range.

White on white, hard to see, soft like snow; but unlike the snow it felt warm.

Caryn felt her friend flying high over her, high in the night sky.

They had left the frozen lake, now; had crossed the pale ridge, just a few paces from the edge.

Caryn felt herself following Erinna with her mind. "Dangerous to do." She thought, but didn't stop herself from getting soared up on Erinna's wings, achieving rapport. She sighed in happiness.

"Flying," She whispered "Mankind's oldest dream. No wonder this feels so good." She smiled.

"The Wind under your wings – it tickles," she sent surprised. She chuckled at this. "Awesome."

"Yes, it is Ryn." Erinna purred back, her joy clearly visible, her voice childlike.

Rapport with Erinna was something special, something wonderful.

It 'was' awesome, full of delight and childlike joy, addictive. It was easy to forget everything else around you. You could walk into an abyss this way; not seeing it's there because your 'self' is elsewhere – high up in the sky.

Caryn couldn't help it, it reminded her too much of her childhood. It felt good, good to fly under the moonlight.

It felt of peace, a way to forget all her troubles for short while.

So they flew in silence, enjoying the moment.

Suddenly she felt Erinna's attention change and she remembered that they were still hunting.

She felt a shiver running down her spine at this.

"Don't be afraid." She heard Erinna reassuring her. Erinna tried to sound calm, which she was not  
Caryn could feel it.

Felt it mirrored in herself too, she suddenly realized.

Her heartbeat increased.

She stalled.

Erinna's mind voice could hardly hide her excitement. She had found a snow hare on the ground, prey. Thus she shivered in anticipation.

Still, Erinna knew that Caryn was uneasy about this; even she did not understood why; at least not in this form. Those concepts of ethics were foreign right now. She was an owl, wasn't she? She was born to hunt like this.

It just was – as it should, her nature.

"Eri?" Caryn asked uneasy. This was exactly why she normally did not join her friend in her flight.

"There is nothing to fear." Erinna reassured, just before everything became blurred.

Blurred with joy, excitement, satisfaction – absolute rapture, rapture filled with the hare's warm blood under her beak, on her lips. All that happened in complete silence – silence aside from the hare's voiceless death scream.

It was too much, to fast.

Happened so fast.

"Eerie, white on white, cold, but the blood's warm, so warm." Caryn thought, "Gods!" she whimpered, disturbed by her own feelings.

Then she was back in her own body. Her knees had sunk into the soft snow under her.

She found herself sunken down, her lower half covered in snow. For a while, a long while she just sat there like that, starring into the night sky.

Caryn fought back a sob. She had no right to feel sorry for herself.

But she wasn't sorry and that was worse.

She felt torn, because she could feel part of that joy lingering.

Torn because she shouldn't feel that joy.

She fought it down, feeling guilty, now.

She was a healer, a Smoke Witch, she shouldn't enjoy hunting, enjoy killing.

She shouldn't feel such feelings – but she had.

She felt guilty because she had enjoyed it. More than she should, far more than ever before.

She shivered, but not because of the cold.

The cold didn't bother her anymore, ever since she gained this strange new gift of hers.

It didn't bother her, but she felt cold.

"How much did I get changed?" She asked herself, feeling sick of what it could mean for her.

She stalled, shaken to the core.

"Ryn?" She suddenly heard Erinna's soft voice, calling her, dragging her back to reality.

"Yes?" She replied, her voice unsure.

"You okay?" She heard Erinna's voice now a soft purr; she was worried.

"I don't know." Caryn answered and stood up slowly, breathing slowly to calm herself.

"It's late, better we bring the hare back." She said after a while, through her voice couldn't quite hide the ghost of a tremble.

Caryn fought back a bit of nausea at this. "Get a grip on this Caryn Smoke!" She told herself.

"Ryn?" Erinna's voice again, she was quite close. She had resumed her place on her shoulder-pad.

"Yes?" Caryn answered not sure what Erinna had in mind.

"Could you get me my clothes from your bag?" Erinna asked, her voice now serious, grave.

It felt wrong, coming from Erinna. Erinna's usual always cheerfully.

"You want to change?" Caryn concluded, wondering what was going on. Erinna preferred to stay in her owl form. The clothes were only for the case of an emergency.

"Yes," She explained, "we have to talk."

"Al right." Caryn agreed defeated, realizing what her friend had in mind. She was not sure she wanted to talk.

"What about the hare?" Caryn asked, trying to change the subject.

"That can wait." Erinna snorted. She was now almost fully clothed.

"So, I'm ready. I suggest we sit down for a moment." Erinna pointed at the near by bench. They were almost back to the house, but not near enough to be overheard.

"You really sure we have to talk?" Caryn asked; she really did not feel like talking. It was still very raw.

"Yes, I do." Erinna's voice was soft, but determined like silk covered steel.  
"I've felt you there too. It works both ways, you know?"

"You have?" Caryn looked surprised. All this rupture and her friend still had felt her uneasiness with this? Had felt her disquiet, her guilt?

"You have never felt like this before." Erinna stated, closing her eyes, remembering the slight shiver of nausea, which had come from Caryn just a few moments ago. No, it wasn't normal for Caryn to feel nausea at the sight of blood. She was an experienced healer after all, but this was different.

"So, what is it this really about?" Erinna queried. "I know that you've been with me while hunting before and I have never felt something like this from you." Yes, she was worried.

This wasn't normal. Hunting for the kitchen like this was a natural thing, necessary to survive here. It was nothing that should disturb you. No, her friend was out of balance, seriously, she thought.

Caryn took a deep breath.

"It's because of what happened, back in Ramsa." She began uneasy. "It's because of the taint, you know?" She shivered again. Thinking back at that rapture, that thrill, she had felt.

Caryn buried her head into her hands in despair.

"It's the blood Erinna, the blood and the rupture, which is connected with it." She said, shaking now strongly. "It is so intense – these rupture, so wrong." Her voice was barely audible.

"I am afraid Erinna," Caryn explained, quietly sobbing. "I am afraid of myself, so afraid."

"I am afraid of losing the one thing I've fought hardest to save - Humanity."

She took a deep breath to draw power to speak it out, her deepest fears.

"The one thing I fought for, and now – it looks like I am in serious danger of losing mine."

"It's ironic, you know. I knew this was a possibility when I healed her." Caryn laughed hysterically.

Erinna didn't say anything, since nothing she could say would really help.

Instead she just pulled Caryn into a tight hug, not letting go.

They remained like this for a long time; neither knew what to say.

Their silence only broken by Caryn's sobbing.  
-

It was far beyond midnight when the returned, almost dawn.

Caryn slept hardly through the rest of the night.

The nightmares had returned.

* * *

----------------------------------  
--------------------  
Author's note:

"Under the Ice" is a Blind Guardian song  
- If you like metal, you should try them out, there good.

But the rest of the poem is mine, only the first line is the same.  
Got inspired by that song.

--------------------


	12. Demons

Awakening Chapter Twelve

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Demons **

-

Jager was different, than other vampires. Although he liked big cities like New York or L.A. enough, they had their values; he liked to leave civilization behind from time to time.

He liked to drift alone through the forest, watching, listening and hunting. Wandering for weeks, months and years, sometimes even longer all alone.

He did not play human, usually, but he liked to play with humans, a lot.

He grinned. "Well, I do play the supernatural part, anyway."

For hunting, he did prefer humans like most of his kind, but the occasional deer wasn't that bad either. "Hunting is not so much about the prey, but about the hunt itself." He thought. "It isn't much of a challenge lately, though."

Immortality sometimes got really boring, but now he had found a new game.

Trouble was only; he had to find his opponent first.

He had to search, and that he did.

So, Jager hadn't left the forest, hadn't left the mountains – because it was good place to listen.

These were different mountains. They were closer, closer to point were the disturbance originated, but far enough not to be too noisy.

He guessed it could be very well New York, but that was only a guess.

From what he had heard so far, there had been disturbances in many of the big cities, including Chicago and New Orleans, not only New York and L.A.

"But I don't know what I looking for. No, that was not enough."

He shook his head, clearly disappointed; then he stood still.

The night was silent, strangely silent. None of the usual night animals were to be heard.

There were things beyond it. There were eerie things, echoes from far away, disturbing the silence.

"Far away not so much in distance but in time," he thought. They were echoes from another aeon, long gone even for him. They are unrecognisable for mortals even for most of his kind. But he listened, like many a night before, they made him remember. Sometimes they made him smile; sometimes they filled him with sadness as fathomless as the depths of the ocean.

Suddenly he tensed and starred into nothing. Something had just happened. The echoes had stopped for a distinct moment, ceasing to absolute silence.

Something had tugged at his subconsciousness.  
Something had changed - something bad had happed.

"Humans," he thought, "I knew them to be foolish. But would they be this foolish?" Jager wondered.

He could feel it already - like a bad smell in the air, like sulphur.

Only humans would call demons for their aid. "What have they done?" He thought in horror.

"Damn them." He cursed. "Damn them to hell." He cursed in more languages he cared for.

"Sure, it had been boring - but boring was not the worst possible thing to come." He murmured. "I'll take boring every time over, over any possible apocalypse that is. "Damn! I like my life, like even this world." He thought with an ironically smile.

"Ah! Well, I haven't had a demon to fight for a long time " He thought and then actually smiled a real smile.

"This is going to be more of a real challenge than I first thought of. So, let's see how tough you really are."

"But before that I've got to find you." He thought. He himself did knew enough about demons to knew that they were bad blood, very bad blood. He knew of ways to fight them, all right.

The only way to really deal with them was to send them right back to hell.

Problem was that for that he needed to find the demon first and for that he needed a witch's help. He chuckled at the irony of this.

"Well, most witches wouldn't help me – even if the goal is as good as it is. Stupid witches, demons are good for nobody, especially not if its on the loose." He shook his head at that.

"And this one is definitely on the loose and therefore needs to be send back." He concluded.

"Hmm, most witches yes, but I know one who would probably help." He remembered, feeling relief at that thought.

"Looks like I going to find you first." He smiled, finely satisfied to have found a solution.

And then he was gone, vanished again.


	13. Midnight

Awakening Chapter Thirteen  
For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Midnight**

Caryn was asleep. But it was not a smooth sleep.  
She was dreaming, more than that. She had the weirdest feeling of being not alone. She looked around, but there wasn't anybody.

Still, the eerie feeling remained.

Caryn stood in a tall corridor, which looked to belong into a castle of sorts. The corridor walls were lined with pillars. There was lots of décor on the walls, too. 

She took a closer look, the looked to be made of marble. Tenderly she touched one; it felt smooth but cold. She shivered, rubbing her arms. She was painful aware that she only wore her nightgown.

"Where I am?" She wondered, trying harder to make out her surroundings.

There wasn't much of light, too. "Torches," she noticed. "When I am?"

She took a few paces forward, feeling curious about this place.

Then she saw suddenly two women in front of her. They didn't seem to see her.

One of them Caryn recognized as one of her own, a Smoke witch like herself; the other one was an ordinary human woman.

But they had to be of a different century, since they were wore long, ancient looking, dresses she had never seen before.

"When I am?" Caryn wondered again, she never had a dream like this. She had never dreamed about the past. Caryn felt herself moving closer to get a better look.

Caryn could now recognize that the one, the Smoke witch, was trying to heal the other women.

The latter one was almost lying on the floor, only supported by the wall behind her.

Then there was someone else, a vampire. The aura was not to miss.

"He isn't aware of me either, thankfully," Caryn thought but the other, the one, she felt in the beginning, wished he would. Caryn shook her head, confused. "This is just weird." She thought.

-

The witch was fighting the vampire.

"She is mine, witch!" The vampire shouted, causing an eerie echo. The high marble walls had a strange influence of sound here 

"Not yet Adrian. No, not yet." Said the witch, looking him calmly into the eye.

"Of course she is, Midnight." Said the vampire, a tall man who seemed to be a noble of sorts.

"She is bonded to me," he said. Then he tried to kill the Smoke witch.

But he was wrong: This was no weak Smoke witch.

Maybe she lacked the special abilities of the Vida, but she was much faster than he expected her to be.

"What??" He asked confused, before he died.

Caryn heard a faint snigger of satisfaction in her head, weird.  
Midnight's knife hit him straight into the heart.

Suddenly Midnight felt that she wasn't alone.

"Who's there?" She asked into the empty 'Corridor'.

"Um, hello?" Said Caryn, suddenly realizing that she was visible to the witch in front of her. She felt suddenly very excited. "This was Midnight, legendary Midnight Smoke of her line." Caryn thought.

"I am dreaming, am I not?" She asked shyly.

"Sure, it is a dream." Midnight replied, chuckling.

"Why am I here?" Caryn wondered aloud.

"To learn, what else?" Midnight was smiling now.

"To learn?" Caryn asked, now even more confused.

"To do the right thing." Said Midnight and turned her attention to the on the floor lying woman.

"And to remember that we have to do the right thing, no matter how high the price." Midnight's voice was soft, silk covered steel. "Sometimes." The last word only a whisper.

"Jessica, you're speaking about Jessica." Caryn now understood. This was about what she had done to heal Jessica. That she had channelled Aubrey's power to be able to do so.

"Yes, it is, but for now: stay and learn!" Midnight demanded and turned her attention back to the young woman next to her on the floor.

The woman was very beautiful, pale face surrounded by golden hair. It was obvious why the vampire Adrian had tried to turn her.

"I have a life to save." Midnight said and put all her strength on cleaning the woman's aura.

"You see, the vampire tried to turn her. But he did it the wrong way. There's still a way to save her."

"All I need to do is to get the vampiric influence out of her aura. It's almost like cleaning a snake's bite." Midnight said.

"But more dangerous, this will change you, won't it?" Caryn wondered.

"Yes it will, but there's no other way. I have to save her." Midnight confirmed; her voice was soft with just a hint of steel beneath the silk.

"Of course." Caryn murmured in understanding.

"This is what happened." She thought, "The beginning of Arun."

"Look, this happens to a human aura if a vampire tries to turn somebody. Do you see how the colours did change into crystal like ones?"

"Yes, I see. It's as if he sucked the warmth out off them." Caryn replied, seeing what Midnight meant. "He sucked the life out of her." 

Sure, the girl's aura was still beautiful but cold, lifeless.

"And he did, that's exactly what Adrian did to her. Ice, Caryn Smoke, dark ice it is." Said Midnight as she ended her work. She succeeded, but now it was her own aura, which lost a bit of her earlier warmth. There were shards of crystal now visible.

Midnight turned once again to Caryn, looking her into the eye.

"She needs now to sleep and so do you Caryn Smoke." She added as the dream scene faded.

"Wait! Don't go Midnight! I still have so much to learn..."

Caryn tried to call out but before she could do so she woke up.

* * *

Far away woke a very confused Jessica. "That was weird," she thought.

It made simply no sense. "Humans were not turned like that, were they?" Jessica wondered.

She was confused, confused because of the dream and confused because it was still day, late morning actually. She looked at her watch; it was ten thirty, not even noon.

Since her changing, she had normally slept during the day.

By all means she should be still asleep.

"So, what it is this time?" Someone asked, Aubrey.

Jessica turned around, wondering, "He's up already, too?"

"Ah, yes I am." He chuckled, shaking his head a bit, so that his loose falling hair danced in the morning light. "So, what was this about, Jessica?" He asked again.

"Why? Does it annoy you?" She smirked.

"Well, if I'm kept to be waken up to the most unusual hours, I really like to know why." He now openly grinned, an amused glint in his obsidian eyes.

"Well, it was about Midnight Smoke." Jessica eventually explained.

"Smoke? Really?" He wondered, for the other dreams Jessica had before, those with meaning, had been all about one of Siete's children or his children's children. That was because Jessica had been born with Siete's blood in her veins. That itself was exceptional.

But Jessica held no relations to Midnight Smoke, founder of Arun.

Nor did Siete, as far she knew.


	14. Shades of Grey

Awakening Chapter Fourteen  
For Disclaimer see Chapter One

* * *

**Shades of Grey**

-----------------------  
Dragon Queen, oh Dragon Queen, where have you been?  
--

Where were your wings when I needed them?

Where was the warmth of your fires when I've been frozen?

How long has it been since I've heard your song?  
---

Seams like eternity to me.

Is there a morning to come?

Will I ever see your dance again?  
----

-  
It is said in legend, that in our darkest night she who slept shall rose again.

When night comes with bitter cold we'll shall feel her warmth again.

But will that be our ruin or salvation?

-  
-  
Excerpt from Dragon Song.

-

------++++++-----------+++++++-----

"So, the dragon slept, but what happens if she wakes?" Caryn looked up from the ballade she'd just read. Her view once again caught by the flames dancing. Her mother had herself once again emerged in study.

She said she didn't want to be disturbed.

She had said it was important.

"Important," Caryn muttered, "but I know better." Trying not to be overcome with her bitterness.  
"And I thought everything would be well again." She smiled a mirthless smile.  
"Should have known better." She felt the bitterness trying to overwhelm her once again.

This time she did nothing. She was too tired.

Suddenly she realized that she wasn't alone and turned around, startled.

"Sorry, I didn't want to intrude." Ivory smiled warmly at Caryn.

"How are you, darling?" She asked with concern.

"Do you really want to know?" Caryn looked sadly up to Ivory.

"Of course..." began Ivory but stopped herself and pulled Caryn instead into her arms.

"Better now?" She asked.

"A bit, thank you." Caryn said and freed herself of the embrace. She stared through the window into the night. "So why can't my mother do this?" She asked herself, feeling the sadness returning.

"Everything seemed to go so well." She sighed.

"And now?" The Triste arched an eyebrow.

"It feels so unreal. Like it was just a dream. A nice dream but a dream never the less." Caryn put her thoughts into words.

"I feel foreign Ivory. I don't know myself anymore." She said with a sad sigh.  
"I feel like I don't belong, anymore."

"Well for one you are still Caryn Smoke, healer extraordinaire. This hasn't changed, or has it Caryn?" Ivory asked with a slight grin, trying to lighten her up. "You can be proud about that, can't you?"

"No, it hasn't." Caryn agreed, though only half heartily, returning the smile. "But I'm more than that now. Everything is so complicated." 

"Once it had been black and white, just good and evil. And now it's blurred, I guess." Ivory concluded the facts for her.

"Yes, it is. Everything's blurred, uncertain. I don't know what to believe anymore." She sank into the armchair, her shoulders sunken, burying her head in her hands.

"How are the others going to react to my change, Ivory?" She finely spoke out her worst fear.

Caryn knew that before her position had been much discussed item, since her healer gift really was off scale. It made her very precious to her kind, but it was also the reason that many other witches felt uneasy around her.

"This is going to set me even further aside." She thought.

"If even my mother has such problems with it, what about the others?" Caryn asked quietly.

"Then we are going to make sure it does work out." Ivory stated firmly but was interrupted by Caryn.

"Please, don't lie to me." She said bitterly. "I know my mother avoids me. She could help with you with our sessions, but she doesn't."

"No." Ivory looked disturbed at this development. Yes, she had realized it too. Had even spoken with Hasana, but there was nothing she could do.

"It's true." Caryn almost shouted. "I asked her yesterday. I had to know."

"She couldn't even touch my aura Ivory." She said between sobs. "She had to look away. "

"It despises her. Touching me troubles her, too." She said finely full of despair. "My own mother, Ivory."

Ivory could only held her. She had no words.

"For what difference would they make?" She sighed.

Ivory knew that it was very probably that Caryn would have to face trial after she had finished her training here.

"Would she run if she had to?" Ivory wondered.


	15. Witch Hunt

Awakening Chapter Fifteen

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

+++++  
+-------------------------------------------------+

**Witch Hunt**

-  
_  
They say the Witch Hunts of the Middle Ages have been cruel._

They barely speak of the burning.

Of the pain and the hiding, the hiding in fear.

They say it in shivering hushed voices, relieved that those times were gone.

They were wrong.

---------+++--------------------++++--------------  
-----------------------------------------------------------

She was running

She was angry with herself – she should not be running.

"Adia is going to be mad with me." She thought with self-loath. "I should stand and fight."

"As any upstanding witch with Vida blood should, but all I can feel is fear."

She had just been on her way back home when it happened.

When she suddenly felt followed, hunted.

She thought she was safe here, because it was home, because of the presence of Vida.

"But I guess that works only against vampires." Sherril thought bitterly.

There, that was despair, pure and simple. It felt wrong. She shouldn't feel this way.

For what had she been training with Vida?

True, she tried to fight right after she'd found out she'd been followed.

Fight as she had been taught, taught by Adianna Vida.

So, she had reached for her blade, the one she always wore, only to find it gone.

She reached for the other one, only to find it had disappeared like the first one.

Then she lost her mind and fled driven by panic.

So, now she was running, but not from vampires.

That much she knew.

You did not run from vampires, it was useless anyway.  
Those people behind her, they were normal humans, as far she knew.

They were now shouting behind her, they wanted her dead.

Her heart was racing too, with the effort and because of fear.

She was only twelve. She didn't want to die. Not like this.

She tried to run faster, as fast as she could. Her breath was heavy, her head hurt, her feet burned and her legs almost give up under her. She had never been this fast.

Yet, it wasn't enough, she realized in horror. There, they were coming closer. And again she tried to go even faster. 

Sheer panic flooded through her mind as she realized she wouldn't be able to escape.

"Nooo, this can't be happening!" She screamed inside, but managed only a terrified wordless wail.

Then suddenly they had surrounded her. There was no space left for her to flee.  
She was going to die; she realized and sank on her knees, tears running freely.

Sherril was paralyzed with fear and humiliation, shame almost stronger than her fear.  
She was of Vida blood, she should be strong not breaking down like this.

She was unworthy.

"Ah, now it's time that you learn, where your place in this world is, Sherril." Their leader said and smirked.

"My place?" Sherril stammered. She'd seen the torches they were carrying. She could guess what they were for.

"How did you know my name?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

There's not much that her kind did fear more, than to die this way. To be burned alive.

"Well, I have my ways." He explained teasingly stroking her cheek. She almost blanked out of fear,  
but he held her firmly, clamped her in place. Not leaving any room for escape, as if there ever had been any.

"Ah, don't faint on me little girl. Wouldn't do to take away my fun, now?" He smirked then took a deep breath to gather himself.

"Okay, so I've been friendly. Ah yes, your kind has no place in this world." He explained with evil smirk on a rather angelic face. That made it even worse. He was terrifying handsome but he wanted her death and probable worse.

"Friendly?" she replied dazed.

"Yes, I've been nice so far." He confirmed in a terrifying soft voice. It was too smooth.

"But that's going to end here, now, little witch." He added in a mock adoring undertone.

Another one, a middle-aged woman cursed, seemed to be impatient with the situation. "Yes, little witch you are so special. You and your so powerful magic." She sneered.

"Now, where is it now? Now that you need it." He sneered, grinning evilly. His amber eyes were burning with unholy fire. Taking in the hate from his followers and the wonderful fear in the girl in front of him. "Yes, this was wonderful." He thought with delight.

Sherril, already insane with fear, realized at this point that they were gone. Simply gone, her powers, they were gone. That was impossible. Only a witch of her kind could take them away, and that she would've been aware of. It hurt like hell.

"What have you done?" She whimpered, surprised she got the words out at all.

"I took it away." He simply whispered into her ear.

"Look, here it is." He showed her piece of black jade. "Isn't it beautiful sweet little Sherril?"

A woman from behind said eagerly "We didn't came for doing conversation with one of them."

"No Lil, we did not. Let us end the talking now." He agreed; his was voice now bereft of any taunting undertone.

"Oh, right we do as you ask, Andra. " Lil agreed.

"Just as it should, Lil." He replied, knowing full well that he did no asking at all. He commanded.

"Now let's us start to make sure that this one can't do anything to stop us." He said at last.

"Now," he said and suddenly he had a ritual dagger in his hand. "Let's begin!"

He looked at the dagger; he replaced it with a syringe. "Ah, I'm sorry. I almost forgot; we need to do this first." He apologized to his followers and pierced her skin with the syringe in his hand. He took a bit of her blood and put into a prepared vial.

"Sorry if this hurt." He apologized, but the girl had now gone completely into shock. She didn't move at all.

"So, now I'm done." He turned to one of his followers, a middle-aged man of Asian origin.

"If you like you can have the duty of finishing this. How is it, Liu?" He offered him the dagger.

"Consider it done." Liu agreed taking the dagger, adding it to the torch he already carried.

Sherril heard herself scream and then her world went dark with pain and horror. Then there was nothing more. Dark, completely dark with out even a single light.

* * *

And then she woke but there was nothing. Everything was still dark. It was too dark to see anything.

„I should be dead, shouldn't I?" she wondered while trying to get to know her surrounding room or place. She remembered pain and she remembered fire but now there was nothing.

* * *

confused?

So, tell me.

-------------------


	16. Dealing with Shadows

Awakening Chapter Sixteen.

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Dealing with Shadows**

_…is often hard enough_

* * *

Alexander starred at the writings in front of him. "Why?" He wondered. "Why did these happen?" He shook his head. 

No matter how hard he had gotten over the papers he still couldn't come up with just one logical reason why the witches had been burned, aside from pure malice. He could hardly imagine such evil, such darkness, even after three thousand years. He thought himself always a believer of the good in people, though demons were supposed to be evil, weren't they?

"What could a demon possibly gain from these? Fear? Pain?" He looked up, only to realize they had been sitting here for hours. "It's already seven forty," he thought. At least that was what the clock on the wall read. He shook his head again, this time in disbelief.

"Shadows," he mused, "this is like fighting shadows. How do we fight this demon?" He stood up, looking out of the window.

"Well, technically it is not true," he reminded himself, "I know about demons, but I don't know this one or these ones. We don't even know if it is one or, God help us, more demons." A lot of the demons, he had been taught about, were beings nasty enough to make you pray they remain in hell for all eternity.

He shivered. The night was covered in shades of black, the stars hidden behind veils of clouds. He could hardly see the cars on the street's parking lots, because the lights were dulled by fog. Thinking about demons made him feel like being thrown into a bad horror movie. "Even the night is cold and dark," he mused, "how cliché."

Dominique Vida did not pace, but she felt jumpy, as well. After all, she never had to deal with a demon before. She just sat by the kitchen table; sharpening one of her knives while over viewing the papers, Nevà had given them.

The table's surface was a rather odd display. There were the papers from Nevà, Dominique's knives and also a bunch of newspapers as well. The latter were added for additionally information on incidents that happened in the last few days.

She wasn't happy with this, this result. That was too little useful information for her taste. "How ironical," she mused while inspecting the things in front of her, "there is lots of information here. So why is there nothing to really help us?" She looked down at her knife in her hand; it was undecorated but deadly. Just like her. She frowned. "How do I fight something I know next to nothing about?"

Nevà had assigned them to track down this demon, simply because she was Vida, strongest Hunter they had. That was just fine with her; it was the truth.

So, in short, she had been assigned to clean up this mess.

Dominique wasn't happy, wasn't her job to be.

Fighting evil things, that was her job – and emotions would do no good there.

This was just about the facts clean and simple; she was the best. Besides Nevà, the Triste queen had her hands full calling their elders to order. "This has to be frightening to them," she mused, "there they were immortal and suddenly that meant nothing." Triste could die in the flames like any other witch.

Dominique had long ago accepted her own mortality, but dying in the flames filled her with dread, too. She just kept it better in check; control was her very essence.

"You really believe we have to deal with a demon, don't you?" Dominique said aloud, after watching Alexander shaking his head for the seventh time, as if with disbelief. He was pacing now from one side to the other, like a caged animal.

"Yes," Alexander replied, turning his attention back on Dominique. He was unsure how to act. He didn't know Dominique very well as it was. "The signs are unmistakeable," he confirmed nervously. "We have to do everything we can to put it back." His voice nevertheless was firm. There was still a part of him that believed in good and evil, in angels and demons, just as he had when he lived a normal human live. That was, before he had lost his sister.

"Plans." She said aloud. "What do you know about fighting demons?" She queried in earnest.

"Not enough I fear." He answered, looking gravely at her. "We need its true name to fight it."

"Its name." Dominique repeated, thinking aloud. "It gives us power over it, doesn't it?" Her eyes glinted with the hint of an idea.

"Yes, that's why it's necessary to know. It gives us power about it." He agreed, shaking his head in frustration. "And it is the one thing we don't have," he whispered thoughtfully. "But maybe …"

"What Alexander?" Dominique queried, noticing the excitement shining in his eyes.

"Maybe we can do it backwards, what do you think Mikhail?" He turned around only to find him gone.

"Mikhail?" He called, slightly confused. "Where had he gone? How had this happened?" He wondered distracted.

"Dominique?" Alexander tried again, looking for an explanation.

"Don't ask me." She shook her shoulders in disapproval. "I do not know what goes on in that head of his. He'd probably just gone to take up his guitar or something like that." His behaviour was sometimes annoying, mostly because she couldn't do much about it; it was among their rules.

They had been so engulfed in their discussion to forget Mikhail, who had been unusual silent ever then the Council meeting.

"He takes this badly, doesn't he," Alexander said, thinking about Mikhail's earlier silence. From what he seen of him, he didn't seem to be the silent type.

"Sure, he's soft, all Smoke witches are," Dominique agreed, "but that doesn't excuse his behaviour." She snorted in distaste.

"Back to the demon, what do you think why it does these 'things'?" Alexander asked.

"Well, I don't know for sure: revenge, power lust, being completely evil ---"

Her sentence was interrupted by a piercing electrical scream.

"What's that?" Alexander starred at the ceiling; it was slightly trembling, too.

"Mikhail!" Dominique stated annoyed.

It was music, but not pleasant; it was too shrill, disturbing and twisted.

"Mikhail?" Alexander replied uneasily. "Is he always like this? It sounds like a guitar in pain." The tunes sent shivers down his spine.

Dominique looked just annoyed. "He does those." She replied and shook her head. "Why does he have to play like this?" She asked herself. "It's sounds like terrible soundtrack. This isn't a bloody movie, Mikhail."

"Well, I will make him stop." Dominique suddenly decided; she had enough of this. She went upstairs.

"Dominique?" Alexander gave her a confused glance.

"Stay out of this, Alexander." She replied coldly without looking back and went upstairs.

She didn't have long to look for; he was staying in Hasana's guest room.

Dominique didn't bother knocking; instead she just went into the room. She stalled for a moment, taking in the display in front of her. He was playing in a daze, she noticed with a grin. Her gaze travelled to his equipment and went straight for the amplifier's power supply. She pulled its plug out.

"Ah, silence," she said relieved. "There that is much better!" She sighed.

Now, she was glaring at him, vibrating with Vida power.

"Mikhail Allen Smoke, stop this nonsense." She chided icily, as she saw that he was playing even now. "This is completely nonsense," she thought.

For an uneasy moment of silence he just sat there, with his hands on still on the strings, starring into nothing. Finely, he looked up to her, confused.

"That wasn't necessary Dominique," he simply replied, "you could just have asked me to stop." He was completely serious with out any hint of sarcasm, but he did not meet her eyes.

"Well," she snorted, "but I feel better now." Then she gave him a critical look over, trying to figure him out.

"So, why did you left?" She queried, giving him another disapproving glance.

"I'm not of much use in this Dominique. I do know less to nothing about demons, at least about this kind of demons and I'm not a fighter." Mikhail shrugged tiredly. "I know only the basics. Like what that pentagram meant." It was true: he did know little about demons, mostly because they scared him even more then vampires did. Vampires, at least were beings of the real world; demons were something else. He closed his eyes. He knew what he had done was not right, but he couldn't help it right then. He felt like he needed some time to think, to escape from that terror he felt when thinking about the demon.

"You should share that with us, don't you think?" She reminded him, demanding - not asking.

He looked down, ashamed of himself. He was an adult after all; he shouldn't act like a little child.  
He swallowed, clearing his throat.

"All right, I'll do it." He agreed, looking up to her. "I'm sorry for this."

"Good," Dominique said satisfied, "Oh, and Mikhail you need to redo that dye." She pointed at his hair, her smile smug. She had spotted some darker spots of ash-blonde reappearing at his hairline.

"Huh?" He starred at her and reached with one hand his head. "Oh, that," he thought, remembering that he hadn't dyed it for a while. "Yeah, you're right, I need to do that," he murmured.

He stood up and followed her downstairs.

* * *

"So, here we are again." Dominique said to both Alexander and Mikhail. "What do we know about this demon?" 

"Anger." Mikhail simply stated.

"What about anger?" Alexander queried, trying for something more precise.

"You know anger, as in mind-boggling rage, madness, being completely insane with anger, berserker-rage," Mikhail snorted then swallowed uneasy; Anger that intense was madness. "Aside from the fear and pain of torture." He fidgeted nervously.

Dominique gave him a stern look.

"Sorry, but it's this place. I don't know how my sister can stand it. All those bloody vampires around." He apologized, rising his mental shields a notch. No, this place really wasn't his kind of town.

"But yes, the demon is definitely about anger, maybe war." He confirmed, pacing slowly from one side of the room to the other one.

"So we are looking for a demon of anger?" Dominique concluded for them.

"Yeah, definitely," Mikhail agreed. "But that alone is not going to help us –"

Bang!

Again: knock, knock:

Someone was knocking at the door, frantically.

"What in heaven is going on?" Dominique swirled around to check the door.

It was her oldest daughter Adianna; she looked rather breathless as if she had been running all the way down here.

"Adia," Dominique said, "what happened?" She gave her a questioning glance, taking in the dishevelled look of her daughter. "Something bad must have happened," Dominique realized.

"There had been another burning," Adianna said, swallowing down the terror she had just seen, "down at Nagog Hill Street, not far from Greenwood's Alley.

"Who?" Alexander queried, "Greenwood Alley, that's not far from here, isn't?" He wasn't sure, because he didn't live here. He just stayed because of Nevà's order. Alexander seldom stayed long at one place. People are bound to notice at one point that he's not aging, so he moves on before that's happening.

"Sherril Hayes," Adianna answered, "and yes it is just a few blocks from here. She had been only twelve years old. What a waste." She remembered teaching her basic fighting lessons. The girl had been promising.

"Are you sure?" Alexander wondered, thinking if she had been burned it would be pretty hard to identify her.

"Yes, I'm afraid I am. I found her knife just a few feet away lying on the pavement," Adianna explained, "it was the one I had given her for her birthday." She sighed, this was no mistake; all their knives were unique as they were crafted with their inborn magic.

"Damn. This shouldn't be happening here just in front of our noses." Dominique said icily.

"Take us to where it had happened, please. Alexander, Mikhail?" She gave them a stern look, daring them to say something.

They just nodded in return and followed her and Adianna.

When they reached the site, there where yellow barrier bands to be seen from afar, secured by ongoing police investigation.

There were at least four police-cars setting the night alight with their lights, painting it in flashes of blue and white. It seemed unreal for this normally quiet place, the lights painting strange shadows along with the trees on the street side. There were also some people from the neighbourhood, watching with expressions of curiosity and unease.

"So, she had been finely found," Adianna muttered, relieved that someone took charge in this.

"Dominique?" A middle-aged policewoman intercepted them, her attention firmly set on Dominique Vida.

"Detective Oliver," Dominique answered, recognizing her from earlier meetings, "we have met before." She nodded.

She gave them a cursory glance "Yes, that we have." Chalene Oliver agreed dryly; finely she turned her glance to Adianna. "You're the one who called us for this, aren't you?"

Adianna just nodded.

"You're Dominique's daughter, aren't you? I have some questions about this." She pointed to the secured area were the remnants of Sherril lay. "We need to identify her. Come over here." She led them to one of their cars, just far away enough from site of crime; ensuring her fellow officers could do their work without interference.

"Yes, I am. Her name was Sherril Hayes," Adianna explained. "I've been helping her with class."

"I see," she replied, "How did you found her?" Detective Oliver queried, looking curiously at them. This whole thing was a mystery to her. Someone got burned to dead like and nobody noticed anything wrong. This was a very close connected neighbourhood; one didn't just ignore something like this. Murder was a rare thing here, even to her and her team. They were not permanently assigned to this section.

"I wanted to visit her." Adianna said, hesitatingly. "I have been half way to their house – when I saw that, the ash." She swallowed, trying to remember it exactly.

"I understand." Detective Oliver said, nodding. "So, how do you know it was her?"

"I found her knife, the one I gave her for her birthday." Adianna explained, unsure how the detective would react to this. They sure were going to find it anyway.

"A knife?" Detective Oliver rose an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes, a knife, you know, she was fascinated with medieval art. So, yes a knife." Adianna confirmed.

"She was only twelve year old." Detective Oliver stated uneasy. She clearly didn't approve of the idea of giving a knife to a child. "Strange gift," she murmured under her breath.

"She was mature for her age." Adianna added, feeling she needed to explain this.

"Ah, well, may this be as it is." She turned her attention from Adianna to the others, giving them questioning glance. "So, and who are you two?"

"Alexander Weatere and Mikhail Rashida.", Dominique said, thus introducing them.

"Mikhail?" Detective Oliver rose an eyebrow at this.

"Yeah, it's Mikhail," Mikhail confirmed, smirking slightly, "I think my mother had an infatuation with a Russian author Somtow or something like that." He shrugged at this. He knew the routine about his name. It was the usual, the expected thing to react to. After all this were the U.S., weren't it?

She nodded only, taking his explanation to mind like any other.

"Can we do something else to help you?" Alexander asked, while full well knowing that they couldn't give her the full truth. "Maybe the half truth will be helpful enough," he thought.

"Yes, actually you can." Detective Oliver said, "Do you know when she left home, and where she had been staying before?"

"Today is Monday," Adianna answered, "she would've been with her friend Susan Richards, studying French for class." Adianna looked at her watch, "She usually leaves a seven thirty."

"Well, now its nine forty," detective Oliver said thoughtfully, "that makes for a gap of more than two hours."

"That's more than enough time," Dominique said, "to do a lot of things." She sighed with displeasure. This meant they had to have enough time to be many miles away, little chance to catch them. This demon might be able to travel from one place to another as easy as any vampire.

Detective Oliver spoke with one of her colleagues, whispering, her face turning ashen.

"He just told me," She explained. "There had been several similar victims down in New York." She swallowed, "That means we have a bloody serial killer on our hands.' She cursed under her breath.

Dominique nodded in acknowledgement. "This is awful," she agreed; she gave Alexander a questioning glance, then nodding to Detective Oliver.

He nodded in return, turning his attention back to detective Oliver.

"Pardon, detective Oliver," Alexander began, "is there a way we could get a look at her?" He knew that they needed to know what really happened, aside from the obvious. He gave her grave glance, reaching out with his Triste gifts, pushing here, adding slight pressure there.

She looked hard at him for a while, and then nodded hesitatingly. "Not now, but you get a look later. We have to finish the investigation first."

"That'll do, thank you." He agreed, nodding his thanks. He sighed in relief "That had gone well," he thought. "That detective has a strong mind."

So, they left the site.

* * *

He gave Dominique a thoughtful look. "That's all I can do," he said. 

"I'll hope that will enough, Alexander." Dominique said thoughtfully.

"So do I." He replied.

"Mikhail looks rather uncomfortable," Dominique realized amused. "Strange," she thought, "he's the one, who could have given us much more than a few hours, but he's bound by Smoke laws." She sighed, "And so is Caryn." She realized, cursing inwardly, "That's means I have to think of another way to get what I want," she mused. No, the opportunity was simply to promising to stop pursuing this goal. Still, she could not break their law, not even for something like this.

He gave her a sly glance in return, "You wouldn't like that either, Dominique."

"No, maybe I wouldn't," she replied, "but it would help us in situations like this."

"So, what did you make out of the site?" she asked aloud. "What did it feel like?"

"Death," Mikhail replied, "it tasted like death." He shuddered slightly at the thought.

"What about this Susan, who Sherril had been staying with?" Mikhail asked, changing the subject to something less gruesome.

"I'll give them a call later," Adianna answered, "no reason to disturb them this late." She frowned at this.

"Mother, we should inform Sherril's parents, shouldn't we?"

"Ah, yes of cause," Dominique agreed. She looked at her watch. "We will go right now."

"Yes, they need to know." She answered sadly, "They should not hear from this from the newspapers"

"Yes, they need us," Mikhail agreed. "Losing her is hard enough."

Sherril's house was not far from here. "In a way it had been good she didn't reach home before they caught her." Dominique said.

"I know mother, her parents would not have been able to defend her."

"So, I guess they are human?" Alexander assumed.

"Yes, they are," Dominique confirmed, "but we can't be that picky nowadays - there are few enough left of us."

"Figures," he agreed. "But how did the know about her, anyway? It's not like we are broadcasting our existence."

"I don't know," Dominique replied, "maybe from former victims."

Mikhail shivered at that thought. "If this demon is anything like a vampire he could get the information easily out of his victims mind."  
'  
"That is true." Alexander confirmed. "And she was too young to have really strong shields."

They had reached the house. It was beautiful, this house; like all the ones around it. A house you would imagine standing in any suburb like this. The air smelled of roses. It was peaceful and quiet, not a place for murder and violence.

Alexander shook his head again in disbelief. "Magic," he thought, "it's the only explanation why nobody had seen it happening."

"This is going be awful, " he said, steeling himself for facing her parents. "Most of the other victims had been older."

"It doesn't matter how old they are," Mikhail disagreed, "it's always hard, losing one you love."

They went inside; Sherril's parents, Lorna and Davis Hayes, had already been waiting. They'd had feared that something had happened, when she didn't return as usual.

Sherril's mother was a slim woman with ash brown hair and eyes. She looked fragile, but pretty. Her father was of middle size but broad shouldered. He had something of a grizzly on him, with his stout figure, grey hair and beard.

Davis gave them only a stone-faced glance. "It's Sherril, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid it is." Dominique answered, there was steel in her voice, as usual.

Davis pulled his wife into an embrace, giving her comfort as well as steadying himself.

"Damn," he cursed, "what happened?"

"I suppose it's better you sit down for this," she gestured to their living room.

"That bad?" He sighed tiredly and gave his wife a comforting look. "All right, come darling. We can do this." He looked steady, but his voice trembled.

When the all were seated, he turned his attention back to Dominique, swallowing. "So, … what did … happen to my baby girl?" His knuckles were white from trying to keep his grief under control.

Dominique nodded slowly; she took a deep breath. "She was burnt."

"Burnt?" He stared at her, confused; then the confusion was replaced with horror. "Oh, no!"

"You can't be serious," Lorna said in denial. "My little Sherril, she was just a innocent twelve-year-old. She hadn't even started high school…." She broke down, sobbing helplessly. "She can't be dead!"

Davis gave his wife pained look, pulled her closer to him. "Tell us!"

"All right," Dominique agreed. "Mikhail?" she sent.

"Of course," he sent back; he lowered his outer shields a notch to be able to reach the Hayes. Finely, he nodded.

Dominique told them how they had found Sherril and what had happened.

It was worse than they had expected. Dominique had expected more tears and sobs; but all they got was stillness; an utter disturbing stillness, only broken by Lorna's sobs and Davis harsh breathing.

"You've gotta find that bastard!" Davis said in a hoarse voice, pulling Lorna into an even tighter hug.

"Please, make sure this doesn't happen to another little girl…" Lorna pleaded, looking up to her husband's face. "They will find him won't they?"

He nodded. "They will." He gave Dominique a questioning glance.

"Yes," Dominique swore, her voice as hard as steel, Vida steel, "we will. He won't get away with this."

"Yes, we will find him," Alexander added, "and when we have, we'll send him right back to hell."

Mikhail just nodded.

* * *

"Not pretty." Alexander remarked, while trying to get his stomach under control. It wasn't everyday you'd been confronted with burnt flesh. While the police had removed Sherril's burned body, that what was left, ash mostly, was more than enough. There was still the smell of burned flesh in the air. He swallowed uneasy. They had just arrived to do their own investigation. 

He looked up, to find that even Dominique Vida had trouble with this one. Strangely, her daughter showed little feelings at all; must be the shock. Mikhail was even worse than Alexander himself, he realized. Mikhail Smoke looked really ill. His complexion had become a shade of an unhealthy green.

"He is the weakest of us." Alexander realized. "For all the powers he had, they make him terrible vulnerable. No, wonder he avoids vampires as much he can. It must be terrible for a telepath to be around vampires, all those dark desires." He mused; he could only guess what a place like this must feel like for him.

"I wonder," Alexander said, "why something like this could have happened quietly. Somebody should have heard or seen something."

"You are right," she agreed, "their should have been at least some uproar. I doubt Sherril would have gone without at least a scream."

"This has to stop." Dominique swore, her voice coldest ice, after starring stonily at the burnt remains in front of her.

"Mikhail, I want any information you can get from this." She demanded.

"All right." He agreed uneasily, knowing there was no other way to respond than to comply when Dominique Vida was like this. He had to fight down the nausea at that thought of having to do this. Death scenes were never pleasant, this was worse than most. "Get a grip on yourself, Mikhail Smoke, this has to be done." He scolded himself for being a coward.

"Alexander could you please shield me?" He asked, knowing that he wouldn't try any of this if he had to do it without shielding. He liked his sanity to stay intact; he wouldn't risk it easily. Also, without shielding he could not be sure he found the right things.

"Oh, of cause Mikhail. Go ahead." The Triste agreed, taking position behind Mikhail.

Mikhail took another step, closer to the ash in front him. Still he hesitated, but then finely knelt down. He reached out with his left had to touch a bit of ash. He shivered.

He closed his eyes and let himself fall into trance, trying to get a feel of this place.

He reached for his third eye, opening it wide, using it to see what had happened.

He lost the ground under his feet, he just found himself airborne, watching from above; he had no form. He was a ghost, a spectre from the future, watching what already had happened.

His view was far from being clear. Here, in the place between worlds, things were often blurred or symbolical – presenting the core of ones self or what you thought of yourself. Thoughts had power – they were power; there was nothing but thoughts and memory here.

It was dark, but he could see the little girl, who must have been Sherril; he sighed sadly.

"So sweet," he thought, "so young – and innocent for someone with Vida blood." That could he clearly recognize. He did not really see her physical form, just her essence in power and personality - her aura; but what he saw that made him want to weep. "Such a waste," he whispered.

Right now, he could see her being surrounded by – what seemed to be a dozen men or women. He could hear the voice of at least one woman. What she said he could not understand, but it sounded harsh.

"Coward," Mikhail thought, as he realized that their leader gave the task of killing her to one of his minions. Then he gasped in surprise, the one who led, had seen him.

He felt red eyes burning into him; suddenly he screamed in horror and shut the link down, frantically.

Mikhail opened his eyes. He saw Dominique and Adianna standing next to him; he sighed in relief. He was in the physical world again.

"So what did you get?" She queried.

"Yes, what did you see?" Alexander asked curiously.

He shook his head. "Not enough Dominique," he answered. "Not nearly enough to help us much."

"Red eyes," Mikhail said, "he has red eyes and black hair. Other than that he looks like an ordinary guy."

"Nothing more?" Alexander asked, "not a name or something like that?"

"No, nothing." He shook his head, still shivering from what he had seen.

"That's not enough." Dominique stated, "I need at least a name, do it again Mikhail."

He swallowed in response; he hesitated. He didn't want to return.

"Mikhail," Alexander added, "please we need to know."

"I know," he agreed hesitatingly. He finely nodded. "Alexander?"

"Yes?"

"Come over here, I want to try another view angle." Mikhail went to the other side, where he had noticed a faint aura before. "Yes, here."

Alexander retook his position behind him, again. "I'm ready."

"All right, let's do this." Mikhail smiled uneasy and knelt down again.

This time the trance came fast and it was different.

Again he found himself watching the same scene, but now he was on the leaders back.

"There," he thought, "there is someone else." Hesitatingly, he reached out to test that aura, carefully. He found a vampire, a rather weak vampire. "Probably Mira's line," he guessed and sighed in relief. "Hmm, another name: Jeremy."

He heard another voice, one of the killers, he realized. There, there was a name.

"Andra," he whispered – and then everything went black.

He saw nothing, felt nothing but cold. Cold like the ash beneath his fingers.

This place was cold, frozen really. Cold like a dark bottomless pit, ready to swallow you whole. It was, he felt, emptiness. He was alone, so alone: ice.

Then suddenly he was not alone. There was something else.

The shadows had become alive, like being caught in brambles with thorns as sharp as razors cutting into tender flesh; drawing blood.

Trapping him, bounding him, unable to move to do anything.

He wanted to scream but realized he couldn't.

Searing burning pain, eating him alive – there was nothing, he could do to make it stop.

There was a pair of eyes, amber eyes which burned from inside. Watching him calmly.

"He!" he realized, horrified.

"Why, yes?" He heard in the darkness; there was a voice, soft as velvet over stone.

He caught the glimpse of a ritual dagger and then fire.

"It's gone." He realized suddenly.

Everything was gone, blanked out.

"What had happened?" Adianna asked, "Alexander?"

"I don't know," He whispered. "One moment everything was fine … and now this." He looked down; Mikhail was unconscious.

"Does he have to do that?" Dominique muttered annoyed. "Is he all right?"

"I think so," Alexander replied; he reached out, tenderly. "He's unconscious. We should not forget that this was a very brutal murder." He explained, "We've just take him home. I'm sure he'll be fine tomorrow."

Then he knelt down, trying to wake him, but became unconscious, as well.

"What the matter -?" Dominique grumbled.

"Mother?"

"Stay back daughter, let me think!"

For a moment Dominique just starred at them, speechless. What had just happened?

"How dare they do this to me?" She cursed annoyed. She went closer to them, but she did not touch them. She was not that stupid. What ever that was that had gotten Mikhail and Alexander, it seamed to be sensible to touch. "Think, Dominique think," she said to herself.

"Wait, first thing in war is to know your enemy," she murmured and closed eyes, shifting to aura sight.

"There," she thought, "there was something dragging at their auras. It looked black – evil."

Dominique concentrated, building up her Vida power. She threw it at the connection line; thus cutting in two. She sighed, opening her eyes again, checking for success.

"Dominique? What just happened?" Alexander asked groggily, scrambling to his feet. He took a glance around, noticing Mikhail still lying in front of him. He was murmuring something beneath his breath.

She smiled then became serious again. "You tell me, I'd just the honour to wake you up."

Alexander closed his eyes for a moment. "There was something, grabbing at me." He shook his head, looking at Mikhail. "He's completely exhausted, we have to wait till he wakes."

* * *

That was long, wasn't it ? Well, at least for me it was. 

Hope you enjoy this:-)


	17. Failure

** Failure**

… _is the opposite of success or to lack in something._

* * *

_Bittersweet it is. _

_Dark and light they are._

_Known and Unknown, _

_but which is which?_

_How to catch a demon?_

_And not to lose yourself?_

_So, don't let yourself be caught …_

_Don't be lost to the dream forever more._

* * *

"Well?" She demanded coldly.

"Her eyes are really like ice," Alexander thought briefly and suppressed a sigh. "He's still asleep, Dominique. Nothing has changed since I left him an hour ago."

"Shouldn't he be awake by now?" She queried with more then a hint of impatience in her voice. "It was almost night again."

"Yes, he should." He agreed, and stared at her, a questioning look in his eyes. "Why? You are worried, Dominique. That's a new one."

"I'm not worried Alexander. I just want to catch this bloody demon and be done." She explained but her eyes were icing over. "Well, looks like I'm have to do it all on my own." She snorted and stood up. She went upstairs.

Alexander just stood and yarned, for he had been awake most of last night and the following day.

"All right it means I am dismissed." He muttered and went with tired steps to his room to get a little shuteye.

Dominique opened the door quietly and entered. She watched for a moment in silence, then her shoulders sacked because she realized that there was little for her to do. She was Vida, a warrior and her knife was never far from her. Most of the time she was armed to the teeth, literally dressed to kill. This however made her feel helpless, and she hated that.

"Darn, where are you when I need you, Hasana!" She cursed inwardly.

Whatever others said, Dominique was not ice. Yes, she was cold but ice did break or melt. So, she was steal not ice, and will not break, ever. Sure, she was beautiful, but it was the same beauty a katana held: sleek and deadly.

She wore her emotions like her hair: firmly bound. In her mind emotions got you killed faster then anything else, but this was difficult. This demon threatened to turn her world upside down. Dominique hadn't cried, but she had sworn to tear down this demon that had killed them.

"Is it also responsible for this?" she wondered, gazing down at the figure sleeping on the bed in front of her. His sleep was not peaceful, nor did he seem to get any real rest. "Smoke." She snorted. "They are so vulnerable."

It was still day outside, and waning sunlight shone through the windows. He still seemed to be covered in shadows. It was nothing physical, but it was real.

Dominique scowled in her frustration. Finely, she gave him a dry grin. "How ironic," she said to the sleeping figure, "you could help in this, but not yourself."

Mikhail Smoke had slept for more almost twenty-four hours now and still did not wake. He looked lost there; the sheets crumbled and sweat on his forehead. He was now talking in his sleep.

They were bits and pieces, which meant nothing to her. His words were clear but also random and unconnected. She did not know what they were about, but she wished he would wake and they could go on with their mission.

"Please don't die, daddy! Please don't!" She heard him ramble in his sleep. He was tossing and turning.

Next, he cried and screamed. "Nooo!" His tossing had gone worse.

"Please, mommy, forgive me…. I cannot heal him. I can't!!" he screamed and trashed.

He lashed out then crumbled down. "I'm no Smoke," he cried. He curled up into a ball, as of being in pain. His eyes were open, but still he did not wake.

He stared at her. "Can't make that wound close … cannot unmake it…"

He trembled, as if being cold from something worse then cold climate.

She had to do something and in an act of pity she tried to shake him awake. "Useless," she thought in resignation, just before everything became blurred. "What the hell?" she muttered.

When she awoke she found herself in a dark and cold place – at night.

Dominique could hear him whimpering. She took a look at the place and shivered herself. It was a house all right, but none she had ever seen before nor one she wanted to see ever again. There was mildew on the walls and - was that the wind howling through the windows rims? So, where was he? She wondered and turned her head to get a better listening.

Yes, there it was, that whining sound. Then she stalled; it was not right: It sounded like a child's voice and not that of a grown man.

"Where am I?" She murmured and listened harder, trying to find the child she had heard earlier.

She walked through dark corridors. It was all grey, and looked like it had been left alone for years: abandoned. "This can't be real," she muttered in denial. "It had been burned down years ago." For a moment she couldn't help but stare in shock at the place in front of her. All right it was a dining room, a dining room, which had been turned into a battlefield years ago. "Dominique Vida pull yourself together," she scolded herself and straightened her shoulders. She remembered this place covered in layers of blood, but here was none of that to see. No, instead it looked like something out of a ghost movie. There were lot of dust on the floor and furniture and there were cobwebs hanging thickly from the ceiling.

Then she saw him, a little blonde haired boy of maybe five or six years. "This is not real," She thought. "This cannot be real." Of course it wasn't because that little boy wasn't that little anymore. The boy was Mikhail. He was curled up now, shivering with cold – and pain?

Suddenly she felt cold, too. Cold and small, that was how she felt. Bump, bump did the heart, cold pain. "Wait, I'm not small. I'm Dominique," she thought tiredly and fought it. She managed by concentrating on her knife in her left ankle shed.

"Mommy?" he called, looking up to her.

"Damned," she thought and fidgeted. "No, I'm not your mother." She objected, annoyed of being caught up in this twisted game.

Still, his hand was closing in, reaching out to touch her, but never got there.

He slumped down. "No, light anymore…" he murmured. There were still tears on his face. "No, light daddy. Where did it go?" He whimpered.

Dominique shook him, not knowing what to do. Despite the fact that she was the mother of two daughters she was uneasy with small children.

"Mommy?" he asked again.

"Damnit. I'm not your mother, boy!" She scowled in annoyance. "How in hell did he mistake me, Dominique Vida, for his mother? We had nothing, absolutely nothing in common. Hell we hadn't even the same build and hair colour."

"No?" He asked pleadingly.

"No, I am not." She repeated, strongly.

He stared at her in return. "There's no light here," he whispered. "It's gone... gone like daddy – and mommy. Couldn't save daddy…" He touched his face, touching the tears there. "I'm a baby, aren't I?"

"No," she whispered, "you're not!" Dominique finely had realized that this was about losing his parents.

"No?" he repeated. "But I'm a coward." He trailed off.

"I wouldn't know." Dominique said after a while. "This isn't real, don't you know?" She pointed at the place around them.

"Yep, it's a dream," the little boy said in a singsong voice. "La, la life it's but a dream… so it's real too?" He hugged himself then reaching out with his hands as if playing an invisible guitar. "What is real? Tam, tam, bam, tk tk tk. la lal la la la … " he sang.

He kept singing, singing and singing for a while then stopped because of Dominique shaking him, again.

"Stop this Mikhail," she ordered finely.

"I can't," he replied, "Want Rinna, wanna fly with her…." he mumbled then stalled with eyes wide open. "There's a storm outside."

"No, there isn't. Sun's shining outside, so please wake up!" Dominique all but shouted at him.

"Music never stops," he whispered, "and dreamscape's real." He had closed his eyes. He leaned against the wall, needing its support to held him uphold.

She shook him again then stalled. "What? You're telling me this … is real?"

"As real as you want it to be, Dominique." He turned back to her, giving her a wistful glance. His voice sounded no longer like a child's voice.

"How do we get out of here?" She enquired, feeling relieved to finely dealing with an adult Mikhail Smoke.

He tossed his hair, shaking his head. "I don't know."

"What's this place? This is about you're parents, isn't it Mikhail?" Dominique asked, realizing that this was exactly the same place his parents had died years ago, leaving him, Hasana and Monica orphaned.

"I don't know. They shouldn't have gone like that," he replied uneasily, shivering. He stood up, looking around. He fingered his father's armchair, remembering sitting right here. "There should have something for me to do." He let it go and looked outside, into the dark. "I'm a fraud, Dominique." He said bitterly. "Look at me, I'm no Smoke Witch. I can't heal a damn thing!" He yelled. "I'm no healer…" He picked up the phone next to him and crashed it against the wall.

He went mad; Dominique let him, waiting for the storm to cease.

"So, you lost you're parents," she finely said. "So, did I. So did we all."

"You're not supposed to be a healer, Dominique." He disagreed. "You can't understand this." He took a deep breath. "He would be still alive."

"You cannot be sure of that Mikhail." She said gravely.

"Yeah, sure am I sure." He swirled around. "Look! Look at these hands. All I'm good for is playing that damn guitar!" He trashes another chair.

"You know that is not true," She scorns him. "What is the body without the mind, the soul?"

"Nothing," he whispered. "There is only darkness, bottomless endless night."

"Damnit, Mikhail stop this nonsense and let us go home!" She jerked him out by his collar, forcing him to listen to her words.

"Home?" He wondered, opening his eyes for a bit.

"Yeah, home, so we can find this damn demon!" Now, it is her who trashes things around.

"Demon?" he asked, voice shivering with fear. "No, he can't find us here." He whimpered.

"Please." She tried again. "You know we have to."

"His eyes, they're so red… they burn..." He mumbled in return. "They hurt."

"Mikhail!" she insisted and lashed out with her Vida power at him. He screamed as it hit him and then went still.

He looked up to her, again. His eyes were clear now. "I don't know, Dominique," he admitted.

"You said something about a 'dreamscape' earlier?" She gave him a questioning look, not quite knowing about this weird thing.

"Did I?" he replied, "So, that means it was me who brought us here." He nodded, gaining a bit of understanding of their situation.

"If so, you'll bring us back." Dominique concluded.

"Normally, I could …" He shook his head in frustration.

"Why not now?" Dominique questioned, not giving in but giving him a withering glare.

"I don't know the way we got here in the first time. Don't know which way I went." He tried to explain but lost himself in silence.

"So, we are lost?" Dominique whispered, trying to keep her voice cool. "No, there has to be a way."

"Yes, no, maybe not." He said after a long while.

"Which way out?" Dominique queried. "There's always a way…"

"It's me, who controls this," he said in a hoarse voice. "I know it's going to hurt but it's the only way out, I'm afraid."

"No, you said this was real. I won't kill you." She said harshly. "You aren't the enemy."

"No, not killing me, Dominique." He looked down at his wrists. "Bind me, Dominique. You got to bind me." His voice broke with just a hint of despair.

"You think that helps?"

"Yeah." He sunk to his knees.

"Well, I can do that." She said firmly. "But…"

"Yes, it means that my powers will be bound in the real world, too." He whispered in return. "This demon's damn smart, you know."

"Yes, you are right he might have planned this." Dominique agreed and hesitated.

"But we don't have a choice. Do it!"

And she did.

They awoke, back in the physical world.

"So, there are you," Alexander said with relief in his voice. "What happened that night?" He gave Mikhail a curious look.

Mikhail looked up to him then stood up carefully, using the wall to support himself. At first he did not react. Things did felt strange now. Finely, he shrugged, trying to pull himself together. "It lashed back, Alexander. When I did my search I found this demon – and he caught me … Alexander, you were there too. Did you feel anything?"

"Now, that you are saying it," Alexander muttered, "there was some dark fog before I lost consciousness. That was it, wasn't it?" He gave Mikhail an uneasy look.

"Yeah, that was it or better he. Andra is a he, a male demon." He confirmed then fought down another tremble. "You wouldn't have left something to eat?"

"Uh, yes of cause we do. I'm sorry." Alexander nodded, then grinned. "You look like hell."

"Yeah, I feel like that, too." Mikhail gave him a tired smile. "Ah, well, it's gonna be okay I guess. Only, I'm dying of hunger here."

"So, let's come down to eat something." Alexander grinned in return. "You can tell us the rest about a fine meal."

"A fine meal?" He raised an eyebrow; he gave Dominique a questioning glance and gained an icy stare in return.

"Yeah, I actually can cook." Dominique smirked and gave them a wicked look. "Well, it helps if you two will be doing the dishes and such."

"We'll do," Alexander agreed eagerly. He gave Mikhail a knowing look. "Believe me, it's worthwhile."

Alexander hadn't been wrong after all: Dominique was a fine cook, after all.

"Well, you didn't say too little," Mikhail said, after tasting the a few bites of the meal. "It is fine."

"I said so, buddy." Alexander grinned in return and went serious. "Well, about Andra …"

"I think he's looking for something with all this. He had stolen Sherril's power."

"He did what?" Dominique interrupted, sounding surprised. "He can do that to us?"

"Well, it looked like it did," Mikhail confirmed, "I guess that was why she had been helpless in the end."

"So, he steals our powers – to do what with it?" Alexander concluded.

"Yeah, that's being the big question, isn't it?" Mikhail replied. "I have a bad feeling about this one, you know? I mean he's a demon for God's sake, so he's supposed to have lots of powers. It makes not much sense."

"Well, he might be demon, Mikhail, but what if he hasn't that much power now? Well, if I were him I would try to regain my power as fast as possible." Dominique added.

"So, lets summarize: we have a power hungry demon who feeds on anger – and despair, who's gaining more power with every kill. Looks, like we better stop him soon." Alexander said thoughtfully.

"That's right Alexander, I'll hope you better get him fast." Mikhail almost whispered.

"We?" Alexander wondered; he gave Mikhail a strange look.

"Well, yeah, I'm hardly in any condition to help you with anything, right now. I guess that's what he intended to do." Mikhail explained, his voice arching with controlled pain.

"Of course, I've forgotten," Alexander apologized. "I'm sorry."

"Well, yes, Information. Mikhail what do you know about the way he looks?" Dominique queried.

"Looks, hmm," Mikhail began, "He looked pretty ordinary, actually. Average height, dark hair and pale skin – but his eyes … they had been anything but normal. Burning embers, that's what they reminded me." At this he had to fight not to tremble. "They were burning, those eyes. I still can feel his gaze on me, Dominique." The tremble won. But he shook his head, to get this nightmare out of his head. It hardly worked. "It's a nightmare you know. Those which fills one up with despair – and pain."

"So, we better wake up out of this nightmare, don't you agree, boys?" Dominique said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

* * *

+oOXOo+

* * *

Andra looked down at the medallion in his hands. It looked like a teardrop, made of liquid garnet. The room was rather dark; still, it shone with a foreboding red glow. "I like it that way," he sniggered; it made his followers squirm with nervousness. It glowed red with the magic of witch blood, magic he had collected during the last weeks. "Ah, yes, I am close." He whispered. "So close."

Andra himself looked astonishing ordinary. He was of average height, had short black hair and wore simple black shirt and jeans. The only thing that was off, were his eyes; they marked him as not human. They looked like polished orbs of carved ebony with no iris in them, hardly human.

Now they shone with the red glow of anger, as he realized that his plan would not work out.

The medallion was still red, but there was almost no blood left. He stared in disbelief, "This shouldn't happen."

"Noooo!" Andra yelled, "It's the wrong one." He seethed with rage, "It's not enough." He could only look helpless at the medallion as it was being filled with last drop of witch blood.

It was brightly crimson. "It should be obsidian, darker then night, now." He whispered.

"This is not enough!" He screamed in inhuman rage. The air was crackling with static from his fury.

Eventually he stopped.

He turned around, gazing at his followers with burning red eyes and a soft smile on his lips.

"So, please explain to me what had gone wrong?" He asked softly, slowly pacing in front of them.

They were terrified. They were on their knees now, awaiting their destiny.

"Master, we did everything you had ordered us to." The older one, a middle aged woman, eventually answered, her eyes down as she did not dare to look up.

"Yes, we did just as you ordered." The younger one added.

He just stared at them for a long while. Then his eyes stayed on the young woman standing near the door. While the others had been looking down, she just stared back.

"So, Lissabeth Margaret O'Reilly, tell why I shan't just kill you for your failure, right now?" He whispered softly, looking straight her into the eye.

"Oh, I don't know." She answered, defeated. "Of course you could, Andras-Inanyas." Speaking out his true name and showing him that she in fact wasn't completely helpless.

"But you'll know that would keep you in this mortal body, permanently." She spoke the truth.

"Aargh! Damn you woman, but you are right." He screamed his defeat, knowing that she was right.

Yes, he could kill her but that would leave him mortal also. Worse that would leave him with no way back to his old self. He would die as the mortal man, he embodied right now. "Oh, damn why do I get conjured by such a good-for-nothing witch!" He cursed. Oh, yeah Lissabeth was a witch. Only problem there was that she held tremendous conjuring powers, but it was combined with dangerous half-knowledge and a hang for being clumsy. That was why it went all-wrong. It could have killed her, but no she had to bind him to her into this stupid human body.

After a moment – felt more like an eternity, he turned around again.

"All right I can't kill you." He agreed bitterly, knowing he still needed her.

"But I can get a little fun of you, don't you agree?" He smirked at her. "So tell me, how had been this sister of yours been lately?" He asked in an even softer voice.

"She should be able to help us, shan't she?" He laughed when he saw her panicked expression.

"Ah, this is much better." He thought. "At least have I gotten most of my power back."

"Help me to find this elusive New Mayhem." He cackled at that. "Hmm, ah yes."

"No." She said through pressed lips. "You can't be serious."

And she thought this couldn't get any worse. She was wrong.

"Don't lie to me!" He caressed her cheek, softly, oh, so softly. "I know you."

He giggled. "Yes, I know you very well my little witch." He planted a kiss on those lips of hers.

He was gone before she could react.

She sighed in defeat. "What can I do anyway?" She thought.

"Oh, Tani, what have I done?" She sobbed silently. "All I wanted was to save you."

"But I guess it has gone to hell, now." She thought, starring into nothingness. There were no tears on her face anymore. Why should she fight? Everything was lost anyway.

* * *

+oOXOo+

* * *

"Hello, this is Mikhail," he answered the phone. "What can I do for you?"

"Mikhail, could you give me Mother please?"

"Sure, Adianna, I'll get her for you, just give me a minute," he agreed and went out looking for Dominique.

He found her in the library. "Dominique?"

"What's it Mikhail?" She queried in return.

"It's Adianna on the phone - and I think it's serious." He explained and gave her the phone.

"Adianna, what's this all about?" Dominique frowned slightly.

"Mother, it's about Sarah. She's been expelled from school." Adianna said flatly. "Again."

"What? How did that happen?" Dominique queried in a calm way – smooth like ice.

"Well, she killed her teacher." Adianna explained dryly and almost giggled about it.

"He was a leech, I assume?"

"Yeah, of course he was, Mother. So, he's disappeared. Well, I took care of that." Adianna replied, suppressing another fit of laughter.

"This isn't funny Adia." Dominique scolded her daughter sternly.

"Yes, mother. I just cannot help it. But there was nothing else I could do." She agreed calmly.

"I would've nothing else thought from you Adianna." Dominique said dryly. "But this cannot go on."

"I know mother." Adianna replied with a sigh.

"I've got to have a talk with her."

"So, I assume we are to meet in the new house you picked for us, Mother?"

"Yes, we will." Dominique closed for a moment her eyes. "See you there, daughter."

"Until then mother." Adia said and hung up.


	18. Found

Awakening Chapter 18 - Found.

For Disclaimer see Chapter one.

I'll hope you'll enjoy this one too.

* * *

**Found**

_Only that which was lost can be found, now can it?_

_Although there are some things, which are better not found._

* * *

"New York had definitely better districts than this one," Katherine O'Hara thought as she entered the bureau building in front of her. She sighed. "And buildings more modern than this." But as it was it was the place that private detective had chosen to have his office in, so she had no choice. So this was definitive business, strictly business.

"Oh well, at least this one has a lift." She thought sarcastically. This place really had seen better times, maybe even great times, since it was a classic office building. In a way Katherine O'Hara also seemed to belong to a different era, with her classical business dress and long red hair braided down below her neck.

As it was it looked rather run down, but one could guess at its former brilliance. That was long ago. "Thirties maybe." She thought.

Then she finely found her destination. An office door labelled 'Roberto Gonzales Private Investigator'. She sighed, but he was the best for such cases. Finding people was his speciality.

She opened the door with out a creek. "Well, at least the hinges have been kept fine." She smirked, taking in a rather clean looking and modern looking office – quite a contrast.

She nodded him a greeting.

"So, mister Gonzales I take you've found those I asked you to find, do you?" She stated slowly.

"Sì señora O'Hara, I have." Roberto Gonzales confirmed.

"Modern technology is a fine thing madam. Here you are." He showed her the map he had created on the gathered GSM and GPS data, he had cross-referenced.

"They are in Canada?" She asked perplexed, she hadn't expected them to leave the United States.

"Sì, at least Mrs. Rashida's mobile is there. It's quite an unpleasant territory to travel since it's mostly uninhabited." He said showing her the details of the map. "It's mostly rocks and ice up there."

"You see it is not easy to reach that place, you'll need at least all-wheel drive to have a chance reaching your destination. Terrible weather señora O'Hara, I wouldn't have chosen that place."

Roberto Gonzales shook his head inwardly. He had been a private investigator for many years but he had never had such a weird case to work on. "Ah well, I have to live from something." He thought.

"Hmm, at least good news mister Gonzales. That was excellent work." She praised his work.

"Here this is for you." She said and paid him out.

"Muchas Gracias señora O'Hara." He replied satisfied.

She nicked her head in greeting and left the office. Her business here was done.

* * *

"Now I have only to make sure that demon never gets his dirty fingers on her." She thought gravely.

"Time for pre-emptive strike." She smiled sadly. "Innocent blood on our hands, but there's no other way." She thought as she drove. Well, the traffic was bad as always.

"We can't risk an apocalypse."

"Ah, there it is." She realized, slowing down her 'Little Jewel', a black Ford Mustang, finely stopping in a parking lot. "So, here we go." She sighed and went through the door of an ancient looking building. It looked kind of out of place, all the surrounding buildings being skyscrapers. "But so we are, living in the past." She smirked and went down the stairs. Going down several floors until she finely reached her target.

There was just one undecorated door. She reached for the bell to the right. It's label read 'Institute for Paranormal Research'. It was barely readable.

She smirked at that. Nobody realized what the really did if he just came across their name. It sounds so harmless, lame really. In reality it was the exact opposite.

The door opened quietly and she went through it. She passed many hallways and doors before she reached her target: a large steel door. She opened it and went inside.

Behind it was a rather large laboratory, which looked almost empty now.

It was empty besides a handful of people and large block in the centre. The block was crystal, but it was not empty. It was also monitored closely; every change would be reported immediacy.

"So, how was your trip?" Mike Alvarez, one of their senior scientist staff, asked her. Though, he did not look very much a scientist; his skin was tanned from many an hour on the beach when he had been younger. He loved surfing, but that was a natural thing, him being grown up in Santa Barbara, California.

"Interesting, Mike," she replied, "I might do it again some time. Playing high school teacher is kind of funny." Katherine smiled at this, remembering the children's reaction to her choice of name. "The best guises are those too odd to think of or those too clique." she thought.

"More too it, that girl, we've been watching. It is her, I am sure." She whispered while she let her eyes stray to the still dragon in the middle of the vast hall. "She looks exactly as the prophecy said," Katherine explained then sighed softly. "And her blood matches the samples we got from that." She gestured to the ice block behind her.

"Then it's decided. You know what we need to do." Mike said gravely, pulling her face back to him.

"Yes, I know." She agreed sadly. "But I am sure. She is connected to it: to the dragon. And we have to make sure that darnest demon doesn't get its dirty hands on her." She spat the latter out as if it were a curse; to her it was.

"It won't, I promise." Mike reassured, stroking a strand of her long hair out of her face.

"So, that's it then, but what of this?" She gestured to the dragon behind her. "It's rather large but on the other side I'd have imaged it to be bigger. The book mentioned her to be the size of a 747 at least." Her voice wavered at the last words. "Are you sure it is really her?"

"I bet it is." He snorted and paused as if he needed to think about what to say next. "Size is not all that matters, Kathy. So, want to see what we found out about our darling dragon there?" His eyes were alight with excitement.

She sighed in dismay, "Mike, how often do I need to tell you guys not to dare the dragon?" Her voice, though, did not betray her fear about the one they had found years ago. "The Scrolls of Veda alone were enough." She reminded him in a grave voice, "But our dragon dear, is going to put us all in dire straits some fine day."

"Ah, but it's worth it, Kathy, believe me." He grinned in return.

"That I am afraid of, that I am." She murmured.

* * *

"Traces!" Alexander all but shouted. "He has to have left traces there!"

"What?" Dominique asked surprised at his display of excitement.

"You, know I don't believe he can move from one place to another like vampires do." He explained his thoughts.

"Hmm, you are right. None of these burnings has happened at the same time." Dominique gave him a smile at this. She looked very much like a hound having found a lead to the fox' den.

"That's good you know." Dominique grinned suddenly. "You've looked over these longer then I; do you think there is a pattern? I mean a pattern concerning places?"

Alexander thought for a while about her words but finely shook his head. "No, sadly I don't think so. They look completely random."

"But what about these trace - wait you thought about car track traces, didn't you?" Her eyes lit up brightly.

"Yes, exactly - Wait Dominique, that means we have only find out what car he's, they are using..."

"Ah, yes and we can track him down." Dominique patted her knife on her hips softly. "We will my dear Alexander."

He nodded just solemnly. "Then I have to go. I think I can find what car or car's he is using."

"And if we have the car we have the place." Dominique added, almost excited.

"We should have. At least the city - even if he steals them." He said with grunt, he sounded satisfied once in a while.

"How long do you think you need for this?" Dominique gave him a measuring gaze. She wasn't very familiar with Triste and how they did hunt; mostly she didn't want to.

"A few days at least. It's an lot of places to look for." He arched his brows, already planning how he would get about this.

"All right do it." It was all but an order and Dominique's eyes looked as cold as always, or was there a hint of excitement there? Dominique lived for the hunt, after all.

He could only obey her; after all it had been his idea, hadn't it? So, he gave her a nod of agreement and left, leaving both Dominique and Mikhail behind.

* * *

So, what do you think? Is this too weird?

So, what I cannot help it. I love dragons...

* * *


	19. Hidden Colours

Awakening - Chapter Nineteen.

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Hidden Colours**

* * *

_Hidden Colours_

_Hide your colours …_

_if you want to survive the hound._

_Be smart,_

_little fox of mine._

_Hide your colours …._

_If you want to sail the seven seas …_

_and don't be caught!_

_Hide them!_

_Keep your colours hidden, _

_loved pirate of mine!_

* * *

_Night had almost arrived, arrived to cover this bright day into layers and layers of purple satin – and silk. _

_So, light had come to its dark lover's embrace. _

* * *

It was late afternoon, almost seven o'clock. Outside it was stark dark already, but the house was filled with the warm glow, coming from their lamps and fireplace.

Erinna stood in her kitchen, starting to prepare dinner. She was humming while preparing her tools. She always hummed while in the kitchen. It made her feel whole - happy. Suddenly she stopped and looked unsure at the vegetables in front of her. She gave Caryn a questioning glance. "You sure you don't want any hare stew?" She asked hopeful.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's a bit much, don't you think?" Caryn replied, slightly annoyed; she didn't wanted to think about hare again.

"You're sure?" Erinna gave her a pleading look; she loved hare stew. "I can put some special spices into it, too." She added.

Caryn ignored that look and nodded. "Yes, I am sure. Please Rinna, we had hare for how many times now?"

"Sure, you're right. It is boring to eat it every day." Erinna gave in. "So, do you have anything special in mind?"

"Nothing special really, just nothing with hare in it." Caryn made a face at that.

"All right, how about mushroom-stew instead?" Erinna offered. "We found some magnified ones this autumn."

"Sure, sounds all right." Caryn agreed but shook her shoulders in disinterest. Everything was better than hare.

"So, that it then." Erinna grinned. "Care to help me?"

"Sure," Caryn agreed after a moment, thinking that doing a bit of kitchen work would keep the dark thoughts away. She took up the other pinafore and bound her hair into a ponytail to prevent that any of her hair got in the stew.

They prepared the meal mostly silently. Neither of them felt the need of further talk.

"Have you heard anything from Mikhail?" Caryn suddenly asked.

"Not much," Erinna answered with a sigh, "only that he's fine and the Council is over."

"Well, You shouldn't expect too much. Council topics are usually secret." Caryn explained. She knew Mikhail couldn't talk about it with anyone next to closest blood kin, even to his wife. Well, that was because Erinna wasn't a descendant of Macht. She wasn't even quite a witch; she simply was half human and half owl.

"I know," Erinna agreed, sighing again, "but I do not have to like it. He sounded worried." She looked down at the pan on the stove. "It's ready Caryn. Please go and tell the others."

"Sure." Caryn turned around and prepared the table.

"Mother? Ivory? Dinner is ready." She called out.

"All right we are coming," Hasana replied and eased herself out of her comfortable armchair. "Aren't we?"

"Sure, Hasana, wouldn't miss Erinna's cooking." The Triste smiled an impish smile at her friend.

"Of course." Hasana agreed, smiling too.

"So, what did you found out again?" Caryn asked curiously.

"Well, not as much I would like, but it has to do." Hasana gave her a piece of paper. "Here look for yourself."

Caryn took it, carefully. She began to read it. "A Prophecy?" she asked, stupefied.

"No, its not a prophecy," Ivory disagreed. "It is a riddle we have to solve."

"Well, it sounds like a prophecy to me." Caryn shook her head, reading more. "Beware of what was hidden by the one who sleeps." She repeated slowly.

"It's only a fragment." Hasana explained, and sighed. "We don't even know if 'this' is how it is meant to sound. It had been written in a ancient version of Latin."

* * *

+-+--ooOOOoo--+--+

* * *

Caryn had been trying to study one of the few books her mother had brought with them. She had been trying to learn more, to understand herself. She took another look at the book in front her and frowned.

"Do I have fear the same destiny?" She wondered as she continued to read. "As the elder heard about what Midnight did - what she and her daughter had became, they decided to remove them from their line. Midnight and her daughter art no longer of Smoke blood."

She murmured to herself. "Do I have to leave, too?" Caryn felt a shiver running down her spine. She didn't want to leave, didn't want to leave everything she loved behind.

"Mother," she whispered. "You swore to be at my side, but even now I can feel how hard it is on you." She fought down a sob. She wasn't crying, was she? No, that was just dust from this old book in her hands.

She was shaken out of her musings by someone's shouting from downstairs.

"Mother!" She literally jumped up from the chair she was sitting on and hurried downstairs.

She had been right: It was her mother talking angrily. There was an unusual glare on Hasana's face. Caryn frowned at this. It felt all so wrong.

"It is for the best, Erinna." Hasana said sternly, her voice being distant. "Ivory is a better teacher to her than I."

"You truly think that?" Erinna queried, her voice sounded equally disbelieving and disapproving.

"Yes, I do," Hasana replied in a flat emotionless tone. "Everyone would be better, even Dominique Vida." She looked done. "Dominique is a lot better at control, than I." Her voice had turned to a whisper, which could be hardly heard.

"You cannot be serious!" Erinna glared at her with unusually rage. "She's your daughter."

"I do." Hasana said steely.

"But … you could … couldn't try, at least?" Erinna murmured feeling a rush of sadness washing over her. It was disturbing. Hasana had been always such a warm person, to her and to anyone.

"I did try, Erinna." She said with a strange finality in her voice. "But I cannot help myself from reeling at feeling that darn vampiric taint."

"Hasana you can't actually mean that!" Erinna screamed enraged. "How can you do that to your own daughter?" She queried.

"Erinna please let it go, there is nothing you can do." Caryn moved between her mother and Erinna. Caryn stood now direct in front of Erinna but made sure not to move too close to her mother. She suppressed a sad sigh at noticing her mother's unease, but there was nothing she could do about that.

Caryn stared at Erinna. She had never seen her aunt this angry. This was not the Erinna she remembered. Erinna was fun: laughter and warmth, even if that was more often than not a bit childlike.

Erinna turned around, her expression softening. "Caryn you deserve better from your mother." Erinna sighed, turning back to Hasana. "You could at least try not to hide all day behind your study."

"I do try, Erinna believe me. You, you just have no Idea how hard it is." Hasana gave her sister-in-law a look of anguish. "You haven't stood between humanity and those leeches." She said bitterly.

"But she's your own daughter, surely you could -"

"How should I react? They took away half my family from me. So, stop judging me!" She yelled finely, losing control.

"Mother?" Caryn asked concerned, unsure if she dared to move closer. She too, was very aware of her mother's uneasiness with her condition. Caryn reached out tenderly, touching her mother's shoulder.

"Daughter I know you don't deserve this, but I just can't…" She trailed off.

"It's all right." Caryn comforted her as best she could, though she couldn't quite hide her own sadness. "I understand." She sighed sadly.

"Oh, Cary, I don't deserve you." Hasana fought back a sob.

Caryn just pulled her mother into a firm hug. Hasana flinched slightly but fought it back.

"This is my daughter," She told herself firmly. "Treat her like that, no matter what."

"Caryn it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how hard it is on me, but you are still my daughter. Always." Hasana said in between sobs. "I just cannot show it sometimes."

"Shish, it's okay." Caryn whispered.

"It shouldn't be." Hasana objected, but her voice was a mere whisper now.

"Erinna?" Caryn gave Erinna a serious gaze. "I believe it is better you leave for a while."

"Ah, yes you are right." Erinna agreed slowly, but didn't look into her eyes. "I'm sorry." She gave Caryn another pain filled gaze and left.

"You're okay?" Caryn heard a voice calling from behind, Ivory.

"We will," Caryn replied softly and watched the Triste leaving for the kitchen.

Turning her gaze to her mother. "We have to." She murmured.

* * *

+-+-oooOOOooo-+-+

* * *

"Well, this was overdue for quite a time." Ivory muttered to herself. "I guess in a way I have to be graceful for Erinna to do the work of the catalyst. This talk was definitely needed, no matter how hurtful it was." She thought with relief. She caught a quick glance of the window, noticing it had stopped snowing. "Ah, well, the storm is gone and we can begin anew." She smiled softly and took a deep breath of the tea. "Simple pleasures." Her smiled brightened a notch. "What were without them?"

Ivory put water for tea on the hearth. She put some tealeaves into a sieve. She stopped for a moment, closing her eyes to take in the heady smell of it. "I guess a nice cup of tea is a really good idea right now." She thought to herself.

She let them be for right now. "Give them some time to work it out." She murmured, while drinking her tea. She had made enough for them all. You could never have enough tea, now can you?

Still, the earlier argument had her thinking, wondering if there was something to help Hasana and Caryn both. "Well," she mused, "it is the taint on her aura, which bothers Hasana. Knowing Caryn isn't the enemy helps little in this," she sighed, "because it's too deep down."

She took another sip. "But what if she couldn't feel it?" Ivory smiled brightly. "All right, I cannot remove it but what about hiding it?" Swallowing the drop of tea, she let her sink into the chair.

"But first I have to convince her. That's the hard part." She muttered to herself.

* * *

+-+--ooOOOoo--+-+

* * *

Someone knocked at her door.

"Yes?" Caryn answered aloud.

"Caryn?" Ivory asked, "Can I come in?"

"Sure, of course." Caryn answered, she'd just wanted to go to bed. "That's got to be important." She mused.

Ivory entered the room and closed the door behind her.

"Caryn come over here." She said and sat down on Caryn's bed.

"Ivory, is something wrong?" Caryn asked, but did as the Triste had asked for.

Ivory never acted like this Caryn thought.

"No, not wrong." Ivory began. "But there is something I have to show you." She explained.

"Show me?" Caryn looked confused at the older woman.

"Yes, but before I do this you have to swear that this remains between you and me."

"So, this is something secret?" Caryn realized.

"Yes, but important I think." Ivory said.

"Do you remember what we were talking about yesterday?"

"About my change?" Caryn said surprised. "You have something to help me, haven't you?" She realized.

"Yes." Ivory confirmed.

"But it's a Triste secret, yes? That's why you want me to keep this private." Caryn concluded.

Ivory simply nodded in return.

"All right I agreed." She said finely, feeling honoured by this.

"It's about your aura Caryn." Ivory clarified what she had come for.

"We have to do something with it. It can't stay the way it is."

"You mean there is a way," Caryn realized, "that we can hide the change in it?"

"Yes, there is. Well at least to a certain point." Ivory took on of Caryn's hand looking her straight into the eyes. "What do you see?" She asked then.

"You, I see you and not." Caryn answered. "Is this how vampires see you? As a normal human?"

"Yes," She confirmed, "so what do you think?"

"I don't know," Caryn replied, "It is fraud on some level, isn't it?" She felt uneasy about this.

She slumped down, hugging herself for a moment. She didn't met Ivory's eyes.

"I am afraid." She said suddenly. "I am so afraid what this will do to me, and of being alone." Her voice was bare of emotion, flat and far away.

The Triste just sat by her side, saying nothing. "I cannot take this from you." She said in a whisper tone, and gave Caryn a testing look. Ivory took in the pale skin, the haunted look the younger witch's eyes and of course the clinging vampiric taint to her aura. Ivory took Caryn's hand in her own, squeezing it slightly. "You are not going to become one of them, Caryn." She said firmly.

Caryn just stared back, as if trying to find out if she could believe the words, she'd just heard. She shivered and shook her head.

"No, I guess not," Caryn said in a hoarse voice, "but it's close - maybe too close." She turned her gaze from Ivory, avoiding the older witch's gaze once again. "I knew what I did, believe me."

"Yes, you did," Ivory agreed, nodding slightly. "But knowing and living it is not the same." Ivory ushered her to face her again, touching Caryn's chin. "Child, you knew by your family's history what to expect - but it was just history. Am I right?"

"Yes, it was and I never thought about it happen to me." Caryn gave the Triste an odd look - and smile.

"Ivory," she said, pausing as if not sure how to say this. "I know that is not your given name. My mother told me you were born in the late seventeenth century…" She trailed off, breathing harshly. She touched Ivory's hand with her own. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Ivory gave her puzzled look.

"To live for ever." Caryn sighed and let her hand go.

Ivory swallowed and took another look at her, realizing how serious Caryn was about this.

"Difficult," she answered slowly, "it is and alone - but also exciting." She grinned, trying to give an honest answer. "Sometimes sad, so sad." Her voice had turned distant and her eyes were looking at things long gone. "So much loss." She whispered with just the slightest hint of tears in her voice, much like an echo.

"But also much joy." Ivory smiled softly.

"Ivory?" Caryn touched the Triste's chin for a moment, trying to draw her back to the present.

"Yes?" Ivory blinked and shook her head.

"Show me." She whispered finely, reaching for the older witch's hand, once more. "Show me how to hide it."

"I will." She agreed, '"though this isn't going to be easy, Caryn."

"I don't care. If this makes mother feel better, I do it." Caryn replied firmly.

"I can't you teach you how to change your aura like I do. To do that you would've been Triste."

"Which I am not." Caryn smiled at this. "So what are we doing instead?"

"Work on your other parts of your aura." Ivory grinned at her. "You know you don't have to exactly hide it - but cover it beneath something else."

"I am a healer." Caryn smiled, feeling happy that she remembered what she was supposed to be.

"Exactly, that was what I had in mind. Close your eyes, Caryn, and look at your aura."

"I don't see anything." Caryn complained.

"Look harder!" The Triste urged her on. "Don't think, feel!"

"I don't know." Caryn muttered weakly. "I've never done this before.

"That's right, but everything has to have a start. Don't be so shy." Ivory chuckled at this then touched her forehead. "Here, what does it feel like?" She whispered.

"Soft," Caryn replied, "but strong."

"Exactly, that is it. Now close your eyes." Ivory ordered and put a blindfold around her head, and thus covering Caryn's eyes, so she was forced not to try to see with her real eyes.

"Ivory?"

"It's all right. It helps you to see with your inner eyes."

"Okay." Caryn said and reached out. She gasped in surprise. "It feels alive." She thought. "So, that's what I am."

"Ah, right that's it. Now, try to concentrate of that what symbolises your healer energy. It should feel, no, it should look green. A emerald green."

"I see it."

"Well, now comes the hard part, for you have to try to move the other parts behind it."

"Move?" Caryn sounded sceptical. "How? One cannot shift or change an aura."

"Wrong, one can, girl. Didn't you see what I did to mine?" Ivory reminded her, feeling slightly annoyed at Caryn's lack of faith.

Caryn steeled herself and tried again. She failed. "It's not moving."

"That's because you try to move it like it was something physically, which it is not." Ivory explained, but couldn't hide the sudden impatience in her voice. "You move them with your feelings. So think about life, about love, everything that's about healing."

"Okay," Caryn murmured weakly. She tried again, this time she tried to concentrate what it felt for her to heal somebody. The warm and tender touch she always felt, the earth beneath her feet as if it was embracing her, tightly. The way she felt so alive when healing, every time. It was so warm.

"That's it better." Ivory chuckled dryly.

"Really?" Caryn blurted out, unbelieving.

"Yeah, just keep it like this."

"I'll try."

"Do." Ivory whispered, "Don't try, do it."

Caryn sighed slightly and concentrated again. "There it works," she thought and smiled proudly only to lose her grip at it again.

"Control." Ivory whispered. "You have to control what you want to be."

Caryn tried again. She thought about her as a healer. She really tried hard, but doing that brought back memories from the night she had healed Jessica. What that had felt like, to have Aubrey's aura running through her. So much power, so much of everything.

"Caryn!"

"What?" Caryn shook her head and looked up to the Triste.

"Caryn, you've got to stop thinking about that night."

"I know." Caryn agreed sadly.

"No, you don't know." Ivory frowned. "It's those thoughts, which prevent you from succeeding. Don't you know that thinking about that makes it stronger?"

"No … I didn't know that." Caryn murmured. "But I can't. I just cannot stop thinking, you know."

"I understand." She stood up and went to the door. She gave Caryn a serious glance. "It's no use to continue tonight."

"Okay." Caryn agreed and yarned. She was tired. "I'm tired."

"Then go to bed. We'll retry next night."

Ivory had left the room.

* * *

WxXx+-+-ooOOOoo-+-+xXxW

* * *

"Adia, I … what should've I done?" Sarah Vida felt rather frustrated. No, this wasn't her fault. How could she have known the new teacher would turn out to be a murderous vampire?

"A bit of more subterfuge would have been nice, sister heart." Adianna replied dryly.

"I had to do something," Sarah insisted. "He was killing my fellow class mates." She tried not to shiver at that. She was a Vida; she could not allow herself such weaknesses.

"He was luring his pupils into his office only to suck them dry!" She spat out. "Tell me Adia, should I really have left that kind of leech alive?"

"No, of course not." Adia agreed and shrugged. "But I would've tried to lure him out to somewhere as far as possible from the school."

"There hadn't been time for that. It was his first day and I had to protect my fellow students." Sarah felt tired of explaining herself to her older sister.

Adianna was the perfect hunter, almost as perfect as their mother.

It was her, Sarah Tigress Vida, who was imperfect; not that she hadn't tried, but things never seem to go right for her.

Suddenly she heard her sister chuckle and stopped in her steps. Sarah stared at Adianna. "What? What is so amusing?"

Adianna paused for a moment, taking in her younger sister expression. "Well, you know. The expression on that leech's face had been priceless. You don't expect your student to kill you."

Sarah grinned in return. "Well, yes, but he was strong enough to know what I am. I really had no other choice." Her grin turned into a smirk. She would've killed him anyway.

"After all he, as a teacher wasn't supposed to kill his students."

"Yep, a teacher from Hell." Adianna agreed. "Come, we have enough to do."

"Yes, I guess we have. The way I know mother, she has already planned out for me to move to another school in a blink of the eye."

"Exactly, we can't have to miss your first school day." Adianna agreed dryly.

* * *


	20. Burnt

Awakening Chapter 20

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

* * *

**Burnt**

_Do you feel the flames calling?_

_Do you feel it growing, its power rising?_

_Oh, it is so alluring, but what will you choose?_

_Does it really matter?_

_It's a place between a hard place and a stone._

_You know, you are already too close. _

_Because you can feel it, burning deep in your veins._

* * *

Caryn didn't seem to get any sleep this night. She shifted from one position to another, but whatever she tried she couldn't bring herself to sleep, to relax. Yes, she was tired but on the other side she was so coiled up, so full of thoughts and restless energy that sleep was difficult at least.

Not to say, that when she did sleep it was very often laced with strange dreams; dreams she could hardly understand for they seemed to be of a world so different from her own that she wasn't even sure if they were nightmares or not.

But now she couldn't sleep.

She yawned tiredly, slowly opening her eyes to see the darkened room. She could not make out much; it was too dark. "But to bright for me to sleep," she murmured, slightly annoyed because that's just the way she wanted it: sleeping under the stars and the moon.

But right now it was annoying, teasing her senses with its energy, with its beauty.

And closing her eyes didn't really help.

Yet, she was very tired, after all the last days had been trying enough.

The lessons with Ivory, both the ones she was supposed to get as well their secret late night sessions, wore at her; and then was there the research, she was doing with her mother. Both things were tiring her, but made it hard for her to find any rest. Her thoughts kept spinning a long time afterwards.

The lessons with Ivory, the ones she couldn't talk about with anyone, they made her more than a bit uneasy. True, she knew they were the solution to her problem but they were also trailing onto a terrain she didn't really wanted to visit.

Caryn didn't like lying at all and to her it was a way of lying whatever Ivory might be calling it. Worse, it was hiding part of who she really was, even if it was a part of her she didn't like. But it was the only way, was it?

The other things, well, they made her thoughts spin too. They made her think; they made her think and worry, for herself and her family. Worry, because she knew now that she would probably never be completely in control of her gift.

Caryn sighed. But it gave her hope, too; for she knew now that she hadn't gotten the full strength of this gift, thankfully. Yet, that, which remained was worse enough.

She yawned and stretched in an attempt to relax so she might finely find some sleep.

Yet, moonlight was slipping beyond her lids, and closing them did nothing to stop it.

So, she finely opened her eyes to take a look around, to take a look at it.

If it didn't let her sleep so she could go and enjoy it too? And yes it was an awesome night.

Her room was dark with silvery shadows. There wasn't much to distract her from the night sky outside, as there was little furniture in her room. The only light source was the stars from outside and bluish reflection of moonlight on snow. All in all it was a peaceful sight. "Peaceful, but the moon," she sighed, sitting up to get a better look at the stars. There were almost no clouds to hide them and snowfall had ceased a few hours ago.

The moon however was not to be seen from her window, for it was hidden behind a single cloud. It was lighting that one single cloud, so it looked like itself would be giving off light, a bright shining fluffy cloud.

It looked so ethereal, like something out of a dream - almost unreal.

So quiet…

No noise, but the slightest whistle of the wind, far away.

Accompanied by a slight chuckle… wait a chuckle?

Caryn jerked and swirled around.

She shrieked in surprise and felt a foreboding shiver running along her spine. "No," she thought. "Not again … no."

There, right in front of her bed, stood a vampire, Aubrey.

"What is he doing here?" She wondered.

He turned around, facing her – smiling. "Oh, that?" he spoke, "Just curiosity."

"Of … what?" She trembled.

"Dreams, Caryn Smoke," he said slowly. "Tell me, what do you think about dreams?"

He sat down besides her, giving her a curious gaze.

"Dreams?" she repeated, not knowing how to react. Last time he had visited her like this he'd needed her help. What did he want now?

"Oh, yes, dreams," he confirmed, grinning. "You know they can be a bit annoying sometimes." He leaned back, casually, stretching like a big lazy cat.

"Caryn, what do you know about Midnight?"

"Midnight? You mean Midnight Smoke?" She stared at him, remembering the dream she had about her a few nights ago.

"Yes, the same one."

"Why?" Caryn wondered. "Jessica, this is about her, but why is he alone here?

"Because Jessica had dreamed about her." He stated in a dry voice. "Jessica doesn't care cause she's used to such dreams, but I am curious why she dreamed about a Smoke witch." He shrugged. "Siete has nothing to do with Midnight Smoke."

"Dreamed?" Caryn stared at him and realized what this really was about. What Aubrey really meant, was that Jessica couldn't received this from Siete. So she has to have gotten it from somewhere, from someone else. "From me?" She wondered.

"Aubrey, what did she dream about?" There was a tremble in her voice, this time of disbelief. "It can't be," she thought. "Dreams aren't shared."

"They are," Aubrey objected, "among our kind it does happen, even if it's rare." He remembered all too well what she told him, where she had gotten her information for her books. Jessica had shared Siete's dreams, because she shared his blood and, as a human, hadn't been able to shield her mind from his.

"But I am not." Caryn whispered, knowing it wasn't completely true. "I-it cannot be."

"What did you dream about? He replied with his trademark smirk. "Just tell me…"

"Did she dream about Midnight healing a woman –"

"Yeah, exactly that." He gave her a very discomforting glance; it was more then a bit curious and it crept her out. It reminded her too much of the look of a scientist inspecting their subject for an experiment and she certainly wasn't the scientist.

Caryn just stared at him.

"So, it's true," she said, "Jessica shared my dream." She swallowed. "Didn't she?"

"Hmm, Jessica dreamed about Midnight, very much the same thing you described." He chuckled then shrugged.

"So, we did share a dream?" Caryn replied with a growing unease.

"I think it is because you healed her," he said after a while. He shrugged. It was obvious he thought that there was more to it.

"No, I didn't. I couldn't have done it and you know it too." Caryn disagreed and took deep breath, acknowledging the truth. "No, we did."

"Too true." Aubrey smirked at her - and vanished.

She was alone again.

And suddenly she was wide-awake - and the silence was gone.

There had been a noise.

There … there was it again!

Bang!

"What's going on?" She wondered; she felt cold from sudden dread.

Caryn froze, unsure what to do, but got up after a few, endless seeming, minutes of uneasy stillness. She didn't bother with her shoes. She would be quieter without them.

"Damn, no light." She heard someone curse. "Can't see a thing."

"Yeah, but it's good for us. Stop complaining." Followed by another gruff voice, also male.

Bang, again, followed by the clang of steel on steel.

"Damn, we've been -" The first one cursed. Wham!

"Rafe?"

"Wha?" Another voice, sounding slightly younger.

"Shut up!"

"I'll make you bleed, bitch." Someone said in raspy voice, creepy.

"You can try."

It was followed by another set of metallic cling-clang. Swords?

Bang! "Take that bitch!"

"Tsk tsk, is that all you got?"

"What?" she thought dazed. "Gun-fire? Fighting, here? And Ivory's fighting these men?"

Caryn shook her head in growing fear and confusion.

Wham! There was it again.

She had left her room, still wearing her nightgown. There were other noises, too.

"Somebody was cursing, about his trousers?" She heard, now even more confused, "What is going on?" The voices sounded not like anybody she knew – and they were all male; they sounded male to her. She clung to the wall for a moment, trying to get more of what they were speaking of.

They had very gruff voices and she wouldn't have been able to hear them if it wasn't so quiet here. They sounded like they were looking for something.

"What are they doing here?" Caryn wondered. "We have nothing of value to ordinary humans."

She looked around, carefully, trying to make sense of this. "It comes definitely from below," she realized. She sneaked downstairs, hiding in the shadows of corners and walls; her room was at the first floor. The stairs were thankfully leading down to the other side, so she couldn't be seen from there.

She reached the door, which lead to the main room.

Caryn pulled it open, slowly, to prevent it from creaking.

She looked around only to find chaos, here. She could see furniture and other things littered across the whole room.

The room was dark, like the other ones.

But she recognized Ivory, standing in the middle of the room.

She was in her sleepwear, just like Caryn; but unlike her she was armed.

She held a sword in her hands. Ivory was fighting these men; the ones Caryn had heard from upstairs.

They were definitely cursing and busy, fighting Ivory - and Erinna, she noticed a second later. Erinna was in her owl form.

This was the source of the sounds of steel on steel she had heard. One of them had drawn something hat looked like a katana sword; the other was fighting with daggers.

They seemed to be ordinary humans; still the Triste had some trouble keeping them at bay.

Caryn gasped. She could see blood on the bright nightgown Ivory wore.

Had she been shot? For Caryn was sure she had heard gunshots earlier, even if she never heard something like that before. Her kind didn't use guns.

Caryn could hear the one Ivory was fighting, muttering something unintelligible, as Ivory found an opening and hit him at the shoulder. For a moment Caryn couldn't help but stare and hoping that Ivory would end this fight. Caryn wasn't used to something like this.

The few times she had witnessed fighting it had been Dominique fighting a vampire; and Dominique didn't use swords. ? And the fact that this was happening in such chaos, with furniture littering all over the room, it didn't help at all.

This was just so alien.

Caryn almost stumbled over, what seemed to be a gun when she heard Erinna screeching.

"Where is mother?" She thought with sudden fear. Caryn kept to other end of the room, as far away from them as possible. She wasn't a fighter; even Erinna in her owl form was better.

"Mother!" she almost called out but stopped herself in time. It wouldn't do any good for her to be discovered. Her heart skipped a beat. T-There she was and she wasn't moving.

Caryn run over to her. She had forgotten about the fighting around her; her sole attention was on her mother's still form. "Please," she heard herself pleading. "Please be alive." She reached out to check for a pulse. Her hand was trembling, a trembling that stopped when she felt it. There, there it was, weak but there.

She exhaled in relief. She had to get her out of here. Caryn gave the room another glance, trying to find a way move her mother away from the fighting.

The two men were still occupied with Ivory and Erinna.

Erinna had lured the one with the daggers away from Ivory. She kept him busy with attacking from above. She was aiming for his face, for his eyes.

It looked weird, like she was flying assault like an Air Force fighter: hit and run.

The man, she was attacking, kept cursing and screaming while covering his face to kept his eyes safe from Erinna's attacks.

Not altogether successful, he was bleeding from several wounds on his head.

Caryn turned her attention to the other one, the one who kept attacking Ivory.

He looked far more sinister, for he seemed to be completely black. He wore the same black clothes the others wore, but his face was covered by black mask. But he too, was bleeding now. It didn't seem to slow him down.

Caryn frowned. Her every day life was what most people would call fantasy or horror. This was worse. She could understand vampires to a certain degree but this? What was this about?

Suddenly, the one with the daggers screamed in rage and threw one of his daggers at the owl above him.

He missed by a few inches.

Caryn turned her attention back to her mother and pulled her towards the kitchen. She gave a nervous gaze at the men behind her and sighed in relief when she made it to kitchen without being seen.

She gave her mother another concerned gaze and reached out, trying to see what exactly was wrong with Hasana.

After another tense moment she felt relief flooding through her. Hasana was just unconscious. One of them must have knocked her out, for she could feel a bulge at the backside of her head.

Caryn touched it, closing her eyes while doing so. She concentrated and smiled as she felt it disappearing.

All her concentration was on her mother as she concentrated and put her into a healing sleep, changing unconsciousness to a very deep sleep.

Caryn shrieked in surprise. Someone had grabbed her from behind.

He smirked at her.

Caryn felt frozen but she was in warding shaking. She should be able to do something. "This was only human, damned. Do something!" Her thoughts were running amok at her. "God damned, Caryn DO something! He's going to kill you."

This were her thoughts but on the other side she was afraid of herself, because she could feel it already; the slightest beginning of burning inside. It was just a spark, but it was there and she feared what it become if she let it grow.

He caressed her with his dagger. "Don't be so shy."

Panic spread like wildfire through her. With the panic there came the burning; her fever was rising.

She tried to control it desperately. Didn't want to harm, not to kill. For doing harm was a capital crime for any Smoke witch.

He came closer and closer. "His clothes looks like an uniform," she realized suddenly, "military. What do we have to do with military?"

"Get away from me." She shouted helplessly, knowing she could no longer contain that what was inside. Her fever had hit its peak.

"Sorry, girly can't do that." He taunted her and grabbed her, pulling her even closer. He leered at her.

"No," Caryn stammered, feeling the flames taking over. "No," she thought and tried desperately to calm herself to put the fire away. But another part of her wished for them to rise, to lose control.

He laughed only; it was a dirty despicable laugh. He put the dagger away - to only pull her even closer.

"W-Waa he is going to kiss me." Caryn thought in horror. Her skin was burning.

She barely recognized Ivory killing one of the men with her sword, when he finely tried to kiss her.

"Have to get away." She pulled her head to the side, thus avoiding his lips.

She shouldn't have done that, because now she was staring at his neck.

There were several parallel scratches on his neck.

T-there, he was bleeding.

"It's from Rinna," she realized in a daze.

Her eyes caught a small trickle of blood running from his face to his neck.

She watched with wide eyes, enthralled by this sight. The flames left her, only to make room for something else - another kind of burning.

His Blood, it was so red, so tempting. Damn!

Heartbeat, she could hear his heartbeat. It was a lulling sound.

It was Drumming, drumming like a ritual drum.

Pulling her into trance. Everything else faded into background, tuned out.

Then the drum got louder.

Pulling her into a trance of red, the red trickle of blood running for his neck.

He pulled her closer and tried to kiss her, again.

She turned her face away, so she wouldn't lose this sight.

"Too close," she thought, "so close." His skin was mere inches from her.

"NO!" Something screamed inside, but she was too far-gone.

It screamed in horror, but the drum was stronger.

Begging her forward.

"Just a taste, just one." It seemed to whisper.

Damn. No. Too late.

She felt her lips touching his skin, tasting salty copper on her lips.

She wished it would taste awful…

… but it did not.

She wanted more and hated herself for it, for being so weak.

The drum was unbearable loud now, irresistible.

Caryn fought it, but her eyeteeth were stronger than her will.

They had broken his skin easily.

It had surprised her and now it was too late, far too late.

Rapture. Too much, it was uncontrollable, this fever. She burned even more than before.

Burning brightly, set alight by liquid fire.

"Can't stop the fire." She thought desperately.

She was too much gone to even feel His panic and horror.

Oh, yes, she smelled his fear but that made it only worse, made her bite down even harder.

She lost herself it, completely. She felt lost, like being on Crimson Ocean, sitting in a sinking boat.

Being pulled down to the deep by the burning current.

She knew, she should fight its sinking but instead she went overboard.

Then it was gone.

The red lure was gone.

Someone, Ivory, had pulled her away from it - with force.

Caryn screamed in anger. She wanted it back, the fire, the warmth.

Ivory was shaking her - and screaming, too. Caryn didn't understand; she was beyond human words right now.

Caryn lashed out – purely by instinct.

Then a swill of cold water hit her. That did it. Did what an anguished Ivory could not.

Bring her to her senses.

Caryn stared up, because her legs had given away, no longer supporting her; staring up onto Ivory's face. A face, filled with full of anguish - and emotional pain.

What had she done? What had she become?

She looked at the form next to her.

So it had been real…. No…

Yet, it was… it had happened.

She was shaking worse than she ever had. It cost her all her strength to keep the flames at bay. They were lucky they hadn't come earlier. But it was disaster enough.

"What have I done?" She screamed in absolutely untamed horror. Starring at the lifeless figure on the floor. "Have I killed him?" She shook the Triste madly.

"Please tell me, I didn't kill him!" She pleaded. Tears running over heated cheek, burning like the fire inside.

Ivory didn't say anything, didn't twitch from Caryn's burning skin.

She didn't know what to say.

What could she say anyway - that would make a difference?

Caryn just stared back.

"No…"

She couldn't take this.

She fled, bolted through the still open door.

"Caryn?" Erinna asked in a confused voice; her gaze turned from the open door to the body in front of her.

"I'm sorry she's gone," Ivory stated flatly.

"S-she can't …" Erinna cried and shivered uncontrollable. Shock.

The Triste only shook her head. "I am sorry." She reached out and pulled.

She caught an unconscious Erinna up in to her arms, thus preventing her from falling.

"You'll never know how much." She muttered.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Ah, yes I've been working long on this one, as it is very important for the later part of the story.

And no Caryn didn't became a vampire, but remember that she is partially one already.

Just like Arun witches, has she to fight with spells of bloodlust sometimes...

Hmm, I'm thinking she is more vampire then any Arun; Aubrey is a very strong vampire after all.

Hope you enjoyed it.

* * *


	21. Colour Blinds

Awakening Chapter Twenty One

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

* * *

**Colour blinds**

_How can you see the bright light, without becoming snow-blind?_

_So, you don't, don't see the light._

_Cause your lost in the night._

_Do you fear the wolf?_

_Would you offer him your throat?_

_But what if you found yourself to be him?_

_The big bad wolf and not the lamb you expected to be?_

_Say, would you growl or cry?_

_Have you ever thought that little red riding hood might not be so innocent after all?_

_No? So keep be blinds closed and never find out the truth._

_Oh, but denial doesn't change a thing…._

* * *

Thirty seconds to midnight

"You're sure this is it?" Christine asked, feeling unsure about the place in front of her. The house looked kind of weird.

"Yeah, I am. " Heather said, slightly annoyed. "Come on, don't be such a chicken!" She ushered her forward, towards the entrance.

Christine took a hesitating step forward, into the house.

She blinked.

It was not what she had expected.

She was caught, caught into a kaleidoscope, a never-never land. It, this house it felt like she was Alice and had just passed the mirror.

But if she was Alice, where was her white rabbit? No, she had none - and Heather was already gone.

She was alone; Heather had left her alone. Christine could see her talking and flirting with one of the guys here. He looked handsome but not at all appealing to her. Christine shivered; that was a guy she definitely didn't want to meet on a dark street - alone. His smile, it was creepy; there were too many teeth in it. Just like a sharks smile it was.

Thankfully, he ignored her. "Why does Heather like this guy?" she wondered idle.

Christine sighed in relief, for she could see others also feeling as uncomfortable and shy as she did. But the others, they just looked cool - and sleek.

Heather had said this place would be cool - it was awesome; but it was frightening, too.

Yes, the music was good. She smiled and started dancing happily to it.

"Dance…" she thought to herself. "… but I dance alone."

Dancing, she did that was until her gaze met his.

Then she forgot dancing, forgot music forgot even the people around her, all but him. He was beautiful; there was no other word for him. Dark hair and pale moonlit skin; he was like ebony and ivory all in one person.

Christine believed not in fairytales, hadn't since a long time, but he seemed to be right out of one.

She stared at him - and wondered if some of them were true after all. He looked like one of those fairytale characters almost like an angel, um, maybe a fallen angel.

And this fallen angel he was walking right towards her. He was graceful, graceful like a dancer, an angelical dancer.

Then he began talking to her and everything blurred out. What could matter when this beautiful angel was talking to her?

He asked her her name -and she almost didn't get it past her lips.

Then there was a tiny moment Christine saw disappointment in his eyes but it vanished as fast as it appeared. "Didn't he like my name?" There wasn't anything wrong with Christine, was there?

"Nikolas, his name is Nikolas," she thought and repeated in her mind, almost like a mantra.

"May I have this dance?" He asked her, very politely.

All she could do was nodding, cause she was stunned, that he wanted to dance with her.

How old-fashioned of him, but Christine couldn't help but thinking it being very charming of him. She hardly heard herself saying yes. Where was her voice?

She couldn't find it so she simply nodded instead.

He was tall, dark and handsome; and he was dancing with her. She almost died from excitement, died in his arms.

She never knew how true that might have come.

* * *

Five minutes after midnight

"What are you doing?" Erinna asked in a slightly insecure voice. She tried to ignore the mess around her but was only partly successful.

"What do you think this looks like?" Ivory replied dryly. She continued searching the bodies. "There has to be something. Something that will tell us why they came here."

"I hope this is worth this." She ushered closer to the Triste while trying to stay away from these bodies as far as possible at the same time. "These," she added, pointing at the body, the Triste was searching. "Stink, they stink Ivory."

"They're corpses, Erinna. Do you expect them to smell like flowers?" Ivory snorted in return. Erinna was kind but sometimes really childish.

"I know that. And I hope you get what you're looking for." Erinna nodded.

"I hope. Well, at least I might find something about their identity." The Triste shrugged then stopped. She had found something. "Well, if this isn't something." She grinned.

"Here, take this Erinna." The Triste held a cell phone in her hand. "You never knew what these are good for."

Erinna took the phone and nodded. "It's on." Erinna grinned. "You think we can trace some of the numbers in these?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes, that is if there are any in this." Ivory replied with some doubt in her voice.

"Come, help me to get these outside." She added dryly. "We can't leave them here."

"N-no, of course not." Erinna agreed. "What are we going to do with them?"

"Burn them, what else?" Ivory snorted.

"Wouldn't that even smell worse than this?"

"Oh, yes it will." The Triste agreed but shook her head. "But there is no alternative to it. The soil is too hard to bury them."

"We could simply hide them in the snow, couldn't we?" Erinna queried. She definitely didn't like the idea of burning them.

"Then we would have to burn them later. It doesn't resolves anything. What if they are being searched?" She pointed at the bodies in front her. "I doubt very much that there aren't more where these have come from. They look like hired hitmen, assassins."

"Um, yes, I guess you're right." Erinna agreed hesitatingly. "What about this?" She fiddled with the cell phone in her hands. "Shouldn't I put this away safely?"

"Of course. I think it's best we look now if there are any numbers saved in this thing." Ivory gave the younger witch a knowing gaze, having noticed her unease at the situation. "And while you're at it, can you try to look if there are any numbers in its contacts?" She added.

"Okay, I can do that." Erinna replied and swallowed another uneasy breath. "'Won't you need me here?"

"Ah, no, I'll okay with this." Ivory smirked at the squirming younger witch. Oh, yes, Erinna wasn't fond of dead bodies at all. "Not that I'm all that happy about this, but it has to be done." She added silently.

* * *

Pale Dawn

Caryn had been running, running for most of the night. Her surroundings were still dark; dawn wasn't there yet. A thing she was glad about, for she feared the first rays of the rising sun. Because with the dawn things became real and she didn't wanted this to be real.

But of course, sooner or later the sun was bound to rise. Nobody could stop the sun from rising

She tried to close her eyes, trying to shut it out, the light. But she could feel them, just behind the horizon. It was there, just behind these tall trees, behind the next mountain, the light of it, of the dawn. It was seeping through the threes around her, painting a strange picture made up of white, black and haunting shadows. The shadows danced from the light to the dark and back, always moving, never standing still. Some were slow and some were swift, just an idea of reality, of something that might be.

The light, it held the promise of a wonderful day; so why did the light held no warmth to her?

Why did she feel like someone had stolen her dawn, her light?

Like some evil deity had cursed her?

Why had she been so weak?

She dimly noticed the approaching dawn; it was becoming brighter now, taking away the subtle shades of grey and creating an image of black and white. Just like her world had been.

But now all she could see was only an endless mass of grey nothing- but no colours, no life.

_There was no colour here, just emptiness, so very like the vast endless cold white ice around her. _

_It was cold, so very cold, bright but without warmth._

Just like her heart felt right now: cold and empty. Her world was a white, endless blazing white thing, an ocean of ice and snow shining brightly under a sun, which held no warmth to her.

It was blinding her, burning her with its blazing glory.

Glory, which didn't do anything to calm that pain inside.

She wished it to go away, wished that this never had happened.

"Foolish Caryn. You could wish for the stars fall down to earth."

It was foolish to run from yourself, but she couldn't deal with it, couldn't handle the anguish on their faces. It was unbearable; all she wanted was for it to disappear.

She was no longer running. No instead, she was walking; she walking like a sleepwalker, except she was not asleep. And like a sleepwalker Caryn did not see where her steps led her.

Her steps, they were slow, she didn't really care anymore.

Her feet, they were bare, but she didn't feel them sinking in into almost knee-deep snow, didn't feel shards of ice underneath the snow.

She felt frozen; but the burning inside hadn't left either. She could feel it in her veins, scorching her like nothing ever had before. She didn't know what was worse: the freezing cold or the all-consuming fire.

She stared right out into the white nothingness around her. It was all white on white – not a single colour to see. "Bare of life," she thought, looking longingly at the white curtains of snow at the lake's shore. It was white - and not red. She cringed and fell to her knees.

"Red," she whispered hoarsely. "It was so red." She hugged herself in helpless anguish.

The white in front her, it remained her of his pale face - afterwards, just as lifeless as the ice.

She sank down on her knees.

She dove her hands into the snow, letting them sink in. For a moment she closed her eyes to enjoy the soft cold feeling on her hands. It was distracting her from her pain - just for a moment.

"So cold - and soft." She muttered.

It was snow but it looked like a blanket ready to comfort her, to make the burning pain go away, maybe even forever.

But the frozen fire remained. It remained, the ice cold, was still burning inside.

Fire over a lake of ice. So much ice but the fire was so very strong, too strong to make it go away. So, why did she feel so cold?

She couldn't make it stop, instead it had consumed her, burning brightly.

It had robbed her of her innocence; had it taken her life as well?

"I have to be stronger than this," she murmured, "stronger than the flames." No, she was weak, and desperation was getting the better of her; so dark, so strong.

"Dear Gods, so tempting. It had been so tempting."

She felt nausea burning its way up, once again. It felt like her body was being torn apart as well. "What is happening?" She fell down onto the snow beneath her, gripping her stomach.

"Why did it have to hurt this much?"

Broken, something had been broken. She herself? Her humanity? Anyway she had no idea how to put it back together.

Pain, there was an icy pain deep in her soul.

Yet, she had tried, tried to run away from it. But it was useless, because it was inside.

It was useless, because she had carried it with her, all the miles up to here.

She felt frozen. She covered her face with her hands.

She shook in a helpless fit of hysterical laughter. "Frozen, I feel like frozen and yet I'm burning with fever."

"What have I done?" She kept asking herself, again and again.

Everything seemed to turn out so well. "Why did it have to fell apart?" she thought bitterly.

And now she sat next to the old oak by the sea of ice, which made up Winter Lake. It looked to her like an ocean made of ice, Winter Lake was vast and the snow at its shore did the rest. Everything was blurred into each other – and all was white.

All but the trees – they were shadows trapped in this white cage.

Like she had been trapped.

Ice, ice and snow were all around her. It was winter here -- and inside her soul. She was - had been a healer. What was she now?

She didn't know anymore.

"What I am? Who I am?" she asked the frozen waters in front of her.

She had asked this questions before.

Then it had been okay.

Now, it wasn't, nothing was.

"Why?" She screamed.

She got no answer, only an echo, of course. But inside the echo went on and on and on.

_Only one word, why?_

Caryn had fled into the forest, up to the lake. Away from the house, away from that place of horror their safe place had become.

But what did that matter when the horror waits inside?

She sank down into the snow, looking very much like a still doll in the snow.

* * *

_So, what do you think? _

_Please review, I'd like to hear your thoughts._


	22. Watcher in the Darkness

_Awakening Chapter Twenty One_

_For Disclaimer see Chapter One_

* * *

**Watcher in the Darkness**

_He watches in silence.  
Surrounded he is by darkness, though it is nothing physical._

_But it is real, all too real.  
Cause he is one of mankind's darkest shadows._

_He is what we fear -- and want most._

* * *

"This is also Audrey's little witch." Jager thought while watching her sitting there by the lake. He was a bit surprised of how strange she looked to him -- and how still. She wasn't moving at all and if he hadn't heard her heartbeat he would've thought her dead … or one of his kind.

"No," he decided ", this was not your average witch." He shouldn't be surprised – but he was. Everyone who'd done what she had done. Risking everything but doing it anyway, she'll had to be braver than most people Jager had seen. "Or maybe it had nothing to do with all of that." He smirked. "We are all at our instincts mercy."

There she was, surrounded by cold ice and snow and seemed not to freeze even a little bit.

Her aura was a strange piece of artwork. So many colours and patterns he hadn't seen in a long time. But it was familiar to him. He had seen this before. Long before even Mayhem had burned for the first time. A long time ago in the old world, at a time Christian religion had not even been a dream.

Jager couldn't help it but he had to get a closer look. She looked nothing special to most people, to mortal people. Average height and build, chestnut hair and pale blue eyes made up a really ordinary looking teenager. Not someone who would stand out in a mass of people, but one who would blend in easily. "In her way she's quite a brazen young witch," Jager thought.

"You think yourself not to be a fighter?" He realized astound. "But you do nothing else but fighting. Not a fighter, huh? Not every fight is done in the physical." No, in her own way she was a born warrior, every healer was. They battled mankind worst foe, Death.

It had been her mental scream that brought him here. He had been in search of a witch to help him find and identify this demon he had felt earlier. So, when he felt it, he simply couldn't resist finding out what this was about. Oh, yes she was one of the few witches he had thought of who could help him. Actually, she was his best bet, the most likely not to refuse him or fight him.

There had been enough of a connection between her and Aubrey for him to find her. Yes, she held some lingering traces of Aubrey's aura, making it easy for Jager to track her.

If he'd been asked, he would be a liar if he said he wasn't tempted.

"Ah, what would be the world without temptations." He chuckled and let himself down next to her.

"So tell me," he whispered, "what is the last child of the dragon doing here?" He smiled and turned his voice even darker.

She gave him only a tired glance.

"Shock," Jager thought, feeling a bit disappointed by her lack of reaction. He had expected a scream or something alike but not this. He narrowed his eyes, his smile gone. Something was serious wrong.

"Boiling lake water for tea?" His smirk now turned into a full-fledged grin.

"What?" Caryn stared at him, rubbing her eyes. "Tea?" She blinked, but he remained, standing next to her. "Handsome, black hair and black eyes – vampire," She noticed. He stood only a few inches away, far too close for her liking.

"Well, well I got at least a reaction from her." He thought with relief.

"_Jager." _She recognized him, though she had never met him. Dominique had made sure she knew the strongest vampires by name and how they were supposed to look like. What she hadn't told her was that he was this handsome. She sighed absently and cursed herself for this reaction. Remember, he is just another one of them. Then remembering what he just said to her, she couldn't help but to reply in same way.

"I never thought you'd like tea." Another thing Dominique had forgotten to tell her, he had humour.

"So did I." He grinned, his eyes burning brightly.

She shivered, she felt uncomfortable. His eyes were unnerving, a soft obsidian contrasting with his white leather clothes. They were beautiful. "Why did he have to look like this?" She wondered briefly.

"Shish, there's nothing to fear for you." He said soothingly.

"And that I should believe?" She eyed him critically. He looked to be of the same age, but she knew he was supposed to be five millennia old.

"Ah, that's better." He gave her sly grin.

"What's he doing?" Caryn wondered, "Trying to charm me?"

"Well, no I am not." He answered her unspoken question. "Not that I am not tempted…" He shrugged and sat down next to her.

"What?" She looked perplexed.

"Nothing." He replied. Turning his gaze away from her, watching the ice now. "That wasn't the first time, doesn't?" He asked after a while, more stating the facts then a question.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, not knowing what he meant.

"Well, channelling Aubrey's power to heal. You did that before," he stated, "you wouldn't be alive if you hadn't."

Silence. She sighed. She remembered and kept her eyes on the lake. She couldn't look at him right now. He reminded her too much of what had happened.

"Yes." She confessed with a heavy sigh. "But they have been witches, not vampires. "

"Witches." He repeated slowly. "What line were they of? I take it they were not Vida, am I right?"

"No, not Vida." She confirmed. "Vida doesn't like to give up control, not even for healing. No, they were of my own kind, Triste – and Arun." The last word came out as mere whisper for it reminded her of herself, again.

"Aubrey is one of the most powerful of our kind. Not the most powerful, mind you, but it's serious enough. Channelling that kind of power takes a lot," he said thoughtfully, "and Jessica had to have been very serious wounded or otherwise you wouldn't have to do this." He concluded, knowing that Fala wouldn't have letting Jessica go otherwise. He knew his dark daughter very well, he loved her but he knew of her faults, too. Faults like everyone has.

"Fala has a terrible temper sometimes, especially if it comes to Aubrey." He thought, and that fight had been all about Aubrey, not about Jessica herself. And Jessica wasn't helping any, since she was with Aubrey. "Well, that certainly is going to become some fight some day." He mused. But thinking of Fala brought him back to the here and now. He took another glance at the young witch beside him. "Ah," he thought satisfied, "that was a good thread of thought, getting her mind to something else."

"She nearly died, still." Caryn remembered, her voice betraying a slight tone of awe; she could hardly believe she really had done that. Jessica's injuries had been severe, near impossible to fix, even with Aubrey's power. "We all did;" She added, "we would have if I hadn't been able to close our chakras."

"So you had to take much or otherwise it wouldn't affect you this way." He stated finely.

"What?" She exclaimed and shivered. "This happened …"

"… only because you had to take too much. You were too good at it." He said smiling softly and sat down next to her. He couldn't help it but he had to admire her courage, her control. It took a lot to channel power that strong for a witch. Most would've died, doing it.

"You are strong, Caryn Smoke." He admired, a smile gracing his handsome face. He formed a snowball with his hands and threw it on the lake. Watching it glide over the ice, then stopping near the other shore of it but it was hard to distinguish where the lake ended cause everything was white in white, ice and snow.

"You are serious." She looked him into his obsidian eyes, wondering if he meant what he said.

"There is nothing to be sorry about," he said seriously, "it's a waste of potential." _Couldn't she see it? _He wondered. _Couldn't she see that not everything about this has to be bad?_

"Really?" Caryn replied, "I am not so sure. You know I've broken most, if not all rules, of my line. How can I get that down to work again?"

He sighed, knowing that shock needed time to heal; and that was what it was: psychological shock.

"Trust me," He smiled wryly, "it will with time."

"Trust," she whispered, "that would be strange for me to trust you."

"Maybe," he agreed, "but not more than for me to trust you, as well."

After that they sat in silence for a while. Somehow it wasn't an all too uncomfortable silence at all but a kind of thinking silence, which gave her time to think over his words.

"You do mean this, don't you?" Caryn asked suddenly.

"Yes, I do. " He confirmed, turning his gaze back to her. "So, stop feeling guilty, there was nothing you could do." He almost ordered, feeling uneasy about her self-hate. "She should not feel that way," he thought. "Nobody like her should. Doesn't deserve it." Yet, he knew it was the shock speaking. What did he expect? It was completely normal to react like this -- though he wished she would not. He wished she would not react this badly though he did not know why. He needed her to be able to help him - and right now she definitely wasn't.

She shivered again, but inside it still burned. Then she resumed her former position, just starring into the night. "But I killed him." She stated, her guilt showing once again. She knew this was a cardinal crime for a Smoke Witch and she would get condemned for it -- if it got out.

"It was your first, wasn't it?" His voice was only a whisper now. He was close and looked her straight into the eyes.

She didn't say anything, didn't have to.

"Yes, you did but the other choice would've been worse."

"And that means what?" She argued.

"Caryn, you would've killed him either way. If not like this, your gift would had done it instead." He declared.

"I fought it back." Caryn remembered.

"And that was good to do so, because this gift of yours is rather destructive." He explained. "You could've destroyed the whole house, easily." And then he did the one thing she didn't expect.

He put an arm around her shoulders, comforting her.

It did work, strangely through.

"Weird," she thought.

"It works so what?" He whispered, having heard her thought.

"Strange, but it does," she agreed, trying not to think too much about the strangeness of her situation. Here she was, running from her family and friends only to get comforted by a vampire. Dominique would be running up the walls, ten-forth.

"So," Jager said quietly, "when do you go back?"

"Back?" Caryn replied only slightly confused, "Do I have to?" She knew she had to; she couldn't just stay here, starring at the lake made of ice forever. She shook her head.

"I don't think I am ready to," she said unsure of herself.

"Then don't go," he gave her another smile; a smile that suddenly lit up.

"Caryn," he whispered, "I've got an idea." He reached for one of her hands, motioning her to stand up.

She did so, looking questioningly at him. "So, what is it?" She asked, not quite knowing what she should think of this.

"Oh, something I need you to see," he chuckled, "honestly it's necessary." Then he gave her a searching gaze, "You can trust me in this – I won't hurt you." He said seriously.

"Why?" She queried him. "Why should I believe you, Jager?" But in truth she was meaning why she should trust him.

"Because I need your help." He explained.

"My help?" Caryn raised an eyebrow. What, another vampire seeking her help? Things got stranger and stranger in her life. Couldn't just something stay boring and normal for once?

"Yes, your help Caryn Smoke." He sighed. "I'm going to explain this to you, but first I need you see it for your own." He knew if she didn't she wouldn't believe him. He sighed, knowing that even if she did, believing and trusting someone wasn't exactly the same thing. And he needed her to do both, believing and trusting him.

"Come," he said extending a hand to her. "I have to show you something."

She took his hand and he pulled her with him - to another place.

"New York!" she exclaimed. She realized that she was standing in the middle of street and felt her cheeks reddening. "Jager I am in my night gown."

He just chuckled. "Do not worry, they won't see you. They will not see us."

She blinked and smiled after a quick look at around. He had put a glamour on them. "They better not." Then she became serious again and gave a curious look.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I haven't found you by chance only Caryn." He explained in a serious voice.

"You were looking for me?" She asked surprised and starred at him, noticing that his eyes were green now, another glamour. "Why?"

He gave her long serious look - as if waging what to tell her. "I really need your help." He admitted finely. "I meant it."

It stopped her in mid track. "What!?" She stared at him with wide eyes and open mouth. She had never expected this answer from him. "I thought …" Seriously, a vampire needing help from a witch, but Aubrey had needed her help in healing Jessica.

"That this was all a crazy game of mine?"

"Yes, I did," she answered, and it was curiosity why she was here, dangerous curiosity yes, but still. She pulled herself together. "Why have you truly brought me here?" She felt extremely curious now.

"Because there's a demon running free." He said completely seriously.

"What?" She shook her head in bewilderment. "I don't know anything about demons, Jager. I was, I mean I am a healer. I do not summon demons nor do I know anything on how to fight them."

He gave her smile in return. "I know," he replied, "and I do not expect that from you."

"But?"

"I cannot find him on my own. His aura is invisible to any search magic I have." He explained. His voice was barely more than a whisper. "I cannot pinpoint his location, but I know he's there."

"Because you are a vampire." She added beginning to understand what this was all about. She sighed. "You want me to find him, don't you?"

"Yes." He admitted tonelessly.

"I am a healer." She said sceptically, "I don't know how to do find anyone." She took another look at his serious face and sighed in defeat. It was for the greater good after all. "But I guess I can find a search spell for this." She thought about the lots of books her mother, Hasana, had on magic. There had to be something she could use for this, there had to.

"You don't have to do this alone." He grinned suddenly. "Actually, you can't."

Caryn couldn't help but giggle in return. "Oh, my! I hope Dominique never hears about this." Turning serious, Caryn took a closer look at their surroundings. She noticed the desolate state of the alley around them.

"Is that blood?" she wondered. "Looks more like a battlefield than a proper alley." She shivered at this and gave Jager a wary look. "What did happen here?" She took a step closer to this things, this bodies in front of her and stopped abruptly.

That face, there on the street, she'd known him even if just briefly. Caryn could see him clearly in her memory; the young were, who'd hit on her -- and now he was dead.

"I know this one." She heard herself whispering and she couldn't help the tremble. She could remember the scene two weeks ago clearly in her mind. The young were, who tried to get her to dance with him. He had been really boyish even he had been really drunk too. And if he hadn't been so drunk she would've actually said yes. But now he was only a still body covered by way too much blood.

There she had thought her personal problems had been bad but this? Here was so much blood, death and from what she could see agony before their death. "He'd just been juvenile were, not worse than other young men … and now he's--"

"Dead," Jager supplied the word she couldn't speak out herself. "It's a war, this." He pointed out to the scenery around them.

"War?"

"Yes, war, Caryn, a war." He whispered in return, sending another shiver down her spine.

"But this is New York? Shouldn't have someone taken care of … this?"

"Caryn," he said and reached out to tenderly touch her chin, moving her to face him directly. "The city is in chaos. The NYPD has her hands full with trying to smooth far too many uproars, too many has happened in the last few weeks."

"He is responsible for this, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is."

"You are a vampire, Jager," Caryn began, "why do you care?"

"Because I can stop him." He gave her a predatory grin. "And while I appreciate chaos to an extent; I like this world. I don't like it getting destroyed." His eyes glowed in an eerie green light, much like cat's eyes; but she could see mischief lurking in them, too.

"All right," Caryn said, "I'll help you, but I'll have to make sure my kin doesn't get to know anything of this." She couldn't help feeling uneasy when thinking about this, especially Dominique but she had to do what was right.

"Then they won't." He assured her. "We can't do it here anyway." He paused, "And you have to go back."

"I know." Caryn agreed. "I guess we should return."

"All right." He said and took her hand into his. "I'll take you back to the lake." But he stared a long time at her sad face and finely smiled. He had an idea.

The visible world vanished once more this day to reveal -- a breathtaking sight.

"Whoa, don't fall down!" Jager said, holding her tightly.

"This is not the lake," Caryn replied, half confused and complaining but then she took a look and gasped. It was beautiful. "Why?" She gave him a strange look.

"Ah, well, I thought you could need something to distract you -- from all this mess." He explained his action; he hadn't thought she was ready for facing her family, yet. Somehow he had the urge to see her smile. He told himself that was only because he needed her sane and capable of helping him.

"Ah, yes, it had been worth," he thought while watching the awed expression on her face.

The city beneath her seemed to be strangely quiet, but that was an illusion, of course. It was early morning and Caryn and Jager where the only ones here. Well, the latter wasn't surprising as it wasn't usual to sit on one of the eagles of the Empire State Building.

"It's different than I imagined." She said after a while.

"Of course it is," he agreed. "Reality and dream are rarely the same things."

"I think I'm ready now." Caryn smiled shyly at him.

"So, I'll take you back? You're ready?"

Caryn nodded and everything went dark once again to turn into the bright white of the familiar Ice Lake.

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**Author's note:**

I hope you like this and it's not too OOC, but I thought this chapter was really fun to write.

Enjoy!

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	23. Darkness and Light: Return

Awakening Chapter Twenty Three

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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**Return**

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When she eventually returned to their house, she didn't know what to expect, not really. No, Caryn wasn't sure at all. Oh, she knew she had to return but she was very uneasy about meeting her family and friends again after last night. What would they think of her now? Would her mother send her away in disgrace? She shivered but continued to walk to the winter forest. The trees, although evergreen, loomed dark and tall next to her, making her feel very small and unimportant, which was just right with her.

She continued walking, slowly but steadily.

There had been chaos when she fled from the house; she was surprised to find it so ordered. It was like the fight had never happened. Ivory intercepted her before she could leave the forest, which she had been walking through to reach the house.

Ivory looked different, no, not on the outside but her expression was stone-faced, granite.

"So you've finally come back," she said, her voice hard and cold. This was really not the person Caryn remembered. It was as if someone had pulled the layers of soft cloth from cold steel.

Then her expression lighted a bit, "That is good, you know. It is hard enough on Hasana as it is, no reason to lose her youngest daughter, too." Her voice was hard. Ivory knew that Hasana had had hard times enough in her live. She lost both her older sister and her parents to vampires in a way. That was hard, especially because Smoke Witches weren't supposed to die fighting them.

"Don't worry I've taken care of it," Ivory stated flatly, "I've covered your tracks. Erinna won't remember anything of it." Ivory gave her a glance, remaining her position stiffly.

"What?" Caryn asked shocked at such amoral behaviour, staring in disbelieve at the Triste in front of her. Erinna was friend and family and one didn't go and abuse them. "I don't know this person," she thought. Behaviour like that was all but amoral to what she had learned.

"It was necessary, Caryn, don't pull a face on me." Ivory replied. "Damn, those dated morals of these Macht witches," she cursed inwardly, "it doesn't do them any good." She gave her another look up, feeling astonishment to find her in such good state of mind. She swallowed. "Caryn, have you considered what we have been talking earlier?" She asked, thus changing the topic.

Caryn gave her a confused look, "Earlier? I don't know what you are talking about." She shook her head in puzzlement, trying to remember what the Triste meant. "Two days?" She finally asked.

"Yes, two days before, well, now three. Have you come to any decision?" She insisted gravely, her gaze never leaving the younger witch.

Caryn tried to remember what Ivory meant, "Two days ago," she thought, "wait she means that thing about my aura." She shook her head in uncertainty. "I don't know," she answered, "it would be lying wouldn't it?"

"No, it won't," Ivory disagreed, "it's just bending the truth, simply not telling, Caryn." She explained with fervour, giving her a pleading look. "Please," she said, "do it for Hasana's sake if not for your own." Ivory felt if Hasana knew this it would be her undoing, psychologically.

Caryn stared at her thoughtfully then she nodded, "All right I do it, but only for mother." She swallowed, feeling guilty about leaving like she did last night. "Mother," she thought, "she's going to be mad with worry. " True, she told her mother days ago that the cold didn't bother her anymore ever since she attained this strange new power of hers but would her mother remember this? And Hasana had been cold out, too, when she left. "I'll hope she's all right," she murmured to herself and gave the Triste in front of her another probing look. Ivory didn't seem to care much about her, so this was all bout her mother.

"Good. Take this, there is still blood on your gown." Ivory gave her a jacked of sorts. "It won't do any good to let them see it, now would it?"

Ivory turned around to went for the house, without a word. Caryn followed and noticed that the Triste was walking with a certain stiffness, which could only result from being wounded. No, there was no visible wound but Caryn could feel it clearly, the older witch had been wounded, badly. It was probable not serious to her kind, but still something, which should be taken care of.

"You've been wounded. Does it hurt much?" she found herself asking. There had to be something she could do to … to do something good after all and gave Ivory a hopeful look.

"Of course it does!" Ivory retorted annoyed, "He had shot me, I don't heal that fast." She kept walking.

Caryn reached out tenderly, only to be brushed of by the Triste beside her.

"Not necessary Caryn. It's only a scratch, it hurts but other than that I'm fine." She snorted then she got sight of the men's tracks in the snow. She cursed. "You should leave now," she said, "It's no longer a safe place for you to stay."

"What about my training?" Caryn asked suddenly, feeling unsure if she could carry on with it after what happened.

"That's superfluous now," Ivory snorted, "it doesn't mean a thing if you are dead." She took a deeper breath. "I doubt you want that to happen, do you?"

"No, I don't." Caryn agreed.

They had reached the house.

"Mother," Caryn whispered.

"Daughter … are you all right?" Hasana said with a slight tremble in her voice.

Caryn just stared at her mother for long moment. What could she say? It would be lying if she said she were okay. So, she did both. She shook her head and nodded afterwards, hoping that her mother would understand.

"I'm peachy, Mother," she whispered finally.

"Caryn!" Hasana swallowed. "Come here." It was an order, even if it was said softly and Caryn complied to it, not knowing what else to do. Hasana hugged her tightly. "Don't do this to me again, Caryn."

Caryn trembled in her mothers embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I promise." She pulled her mother closer and reached with her right hand to her mother's cheek. "You all right, too?" Caryn remembered all too clearly how terrified she had been last night, when she found her mother's still body.

"Yes, I am." Hasana smiled at this and took her daughters hand. "Because of you I am."

"Ryn!" She heard Erinna behind them and turned around to face her aunt.

"Erinna." She replied and tried to smile, but failed miserably.

"How do you feel?" Erinna nodded to her and gasped. "What's this?" She had spotted the blood on her nightgown.

"It's just blood from one of the guys, I wounded with my sword." Ivory interrupted quickly, knowing that Caryn wasn't a very good liar.

"So, she's okay?" Erinna asked, still frowning slightly.

"Yes, she is." It was clear to Caryn that Ivory meant physically -- and she was right. Caryn was okay in this sense.

"Erinna?" Caryn gave her friend another look and frowned. There were their clothing bags, right behind Erinna, leaning to the door. "What's going on?"

"Caryn, Ivory thinks we should leave."

"Hasana," Ivory began again, stopped and looked around her. "You two really have to leave. I don't want you two dead." Then snorted and touched Hasana's shoulder, trying to make Hasana understand how important this was to her. "There's nothing of importance I can add to Caryn's training."

"You really believe this?" Hasana asked, having worried about it for quite a time.

"Hasana, I really believe there isn't much I could teach anyway. Everything else about her gift she needs to learn on her own, anyway." Ivory was moving uneasily now. "You really have to go."

"Yes, you are right," Hasana hesitatingly agreed, "those men, they had been professionals, hadn't they?"

"I'm afraid they were." Ivory murmured thoughtfully.

"Mother?" Caryn interrupted, "I think she's right; we should leave."

"All right then, we leave." Hasana agreed then looked around. "But we can't use our Jeep. It'll never make it to Vancouver, not in this snow."

"Here, take the snow-mobile and down at fisher's creek Erinna's old car." Ivory handed her the keys to both.

"That'll do, but…" Hasana looked startled at this development. She had hoped that her old friend would accompany them.

"Yeah, I know. There's only one snow-mobile." Ivory blinked an eye. "You and Caryn have to go alone."

"I don't like this." Hasana replied but shook her head in defeat.

"Yeah, so do I, but there is no other way. Here, take this. You'll find some place to stay and help in finding another car there."

Hasana hesitatingly accepted the bit of paper. She gave a quick look over and put into her blouses pocket.

"Caryn?"

"Yes?"

"You got to change, you know?"

"Um, I know." She had forgotten that she was still wearing her nightgown, her bloodied nightgown. No, wearing this wouldn't do at all. "I go changing."

"Here," Erinna added, "I've all ready picked something to change into."

Caryn nodded and took the clothing from Erinna's hands and ran into the house to change.

It took them about another hour before they could leave via snowmobile. They reached the hut without problems since it had stopped snowing days ago but the snow was still very deep they had to drive carefully.

After they got the car, things went along a bit more roughly. They had to stop three times to start the car again. Two times they needed to refill gas and one time the engine just gave in. finally, they had arrived to Vancouver.

"This is the address Ivory gave you," she asked her mother.

"Yes, it is." Hasana compared the written address with the house number in front of them. "Indeed it is, sure I don't know why Ivory sent us to such a place."

"Yes, I know mother," Caryn agreed, gesturing to their surroundings. "This is not quite a passable neighbourhood, isn't it?" The buildings looked kind of rundown, all grey and gloomy, and there was lots of waste in the side alleys.

"No, but this the right place. Look, there's the address Ivory had given me."

Caryn followed her mother's gaze and starred open mouthed at the display. It was a nightclub, all right, but none she ever had seen; which weren't many.

"Strange name," Caryn uttered after she got a first glimpse of it. "So, this is it?" Caryn asked unsure of this place, Ivory had given them the address.

"Yes, I think so," Hasana replied, "Still, I am surprised that it is a night club." She took a closer look at the glowing sign. It read 'The Watcher", written in glowing green letters. The door under it looked like fitting another, older time, for it seemed to be made of massive iron. All in all, it looked more like a medieval setting than something a modern nightclub should look like.

"Come Caryn, we have to go." Hasana hushed her daughter. Truth to be told, Hasana too, had to fight an uneasy feeling down. But she had seen many a strange place during her time before.

"I'm right behind you." Caryn said, still feeling uneasy about this, and followed her.

They went finally through that door and stared at what was behind it.

It was dark, which was they had expected a nightclub to look like, but it was also beautiful. "This is supposed to be a club?" Hasana wondered for it looked like no club she had ever seen. It looked more like a tavern out of a fantasy tale. Well, it would weren't it for the rock music, which was played loudly here. But the tables made out of massive wood and their iron fittings were looking medieval enough.

They went for the bar.

"We are looking for a Jeanette Du Charme," Hasana told to the barkeeper behind, and gave him the card she had gotten from Ivory.

The barkeep, a man with very short black hair, gave the card a short gaze and nodded. "Wait a moment." He said and left through a door behind the bar, only to return with a tall dark haired woman.

"I am Jeanette." She said with a charming smile, her voice held just a hint of a French accent.

"I am Hasana Rashida," Hasana began and gestured to Caryn. "This is my daughter Caryn. Ivory, my old friend, had said we could find help here."

"Ivy," Jeanette smiled an even wider grin. "Ah yes, I remember. You are welcome here." Jeanette took another gaze at the card, which really was a very short letter. "You can stay in the rooms in the back. Although, I'll hope you don't mind. This is a nightclub after all."

"It's all right. Ivory said you could help us to get another car?" Hasana gave her a questioning gaze, not quite sure what she should think about this arrangement.

"Yes, that can be arranged. But for now feel at home." She nodded towards Caryn. "There's something to eat in the kitchen, ma chere."

"Thank you." Caryn mouthed. Caryn was unsure about this woman, too. She felt strange. Caryn gave her mother a quick gaze and received only another shoulder shake in return.

"Come on, let's go." Hasana ushered her daughter to go with her.

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_  
Thank you for reading._

Miarath

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	24. Darkness and Light: Dreams

finally

Awakening Chapter Twenty Four

For general Disclaimer see Chapter One, and for this chapter: I don't own Forever Knight.

Have fun!

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**Dreams**

_Reality and Dreams, but what is real - and what is dream?_

_So, it is real now, this strange dream._

_But what means real, really?_

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Caryn and Hasana had done as Jeanette has offered, they accepted to stay here, using her guest rooms at least for this night -- only one night had become two because they hadn't found what they're looking for. Two days, with tonight three, that was much longer than they had really planned to stay and Caryn could clearly feel her mother's unease about this place but they needed to stay for the time being for they had no means to drive home yet.

The other option, of course was taking a flight back home, but Hasana was hesitating about accepting this as an option because of Caryn's newly awakened power. Caryn didn't agree completely with her mother; she was quite sure that she would be fine with flying home. Her control was far better than when she first learned about it.

All this resulted them in staying here, being busy looking for a car during the day and trying to sleep at night. Sadly, finding a good car wasn't as easy as they had imagined for they needed it to be able to do all the long way back to home, in winter conditions and they had limited resources to buy one.

Right, now Caryn tried to sleep, which in itself wasn't easy as she could still hear some music from the club below but she was glad it was muted enough for her to try to ignore it.

Then as Caryn had finally managed to fall asleep as she found herself dreaming again. She cringed. "No, not this dream." she thought in anguish as she had this dream twice last night. Thankfully, she hadn't woken her mother with this before for she was sure she _had_ screamed then.

In her dream Caryn wasn't in her bed at Jeanette's nightclub, no, she was back in Erinna's house and it was that night again. She had just been down the stairs to the kitchen and faced once again that dark man, approaching her. Again, he had his dagger in his hand and was leering at her.

Caryn felt panic overtake her, felt the burning inside gaining strength. She willed it down only to freeze after seen that patch of red on his neck, his blood. It felt quite real too, she could smell his blood and hear his heartbeat, which was pulling her forward like a magnet.

She tried to force herself to awake but no avail. She couldn't escape, couldn't escape, instead she had to face it all again - in slow motion. She stared at him, at his eyes. Saw again his eyes, as they went from glowing evilly to absolute frantic. She felt his panic but it was far away, like being muted by drugs. And again she couldn't turn her eyes from the trickle of red running down his neck, asking her to taste it.

She felt herself leaning towards him, her lips touching his neck. And again she felt herself screaming inside but the drums were so much stronger. The screaming turned to a crescendo as she felt her teeth sink into his skin, tasting more of his blood. Strangely it was the sound of his falling knife, which woke her. Or was it his sheer panic?

"Another nightmare again," she thought, "but was it really one?" But that was the problem not the solution, because a part of her had enjoyed that dream, very much so. She felt ashamed about it. She shouldn't enjoy this, no, not under any circumstances.

She stood up and walked out of her room. She looked around, it was still night. She took a few steps along, and walked up to the kitchen feeling the need for a glass of water after this. She wanted, no, she needed to wash away that taste, that awful exquisite taste of copper.

When she reached the kitchen Caryn realized that she wasn't alone. She was there, that woman, Jeanette, she thought.

Jeanette turned around, giving her good look over and smiled. She stood in front of the freezer and had a glass in her hand. It looked like red wine. "Want something to drink?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes, motioning with the glass in her hand.

"Um, yes," Caryn muttered sleepily still dazed from her recent nightmare. "What?" she asked after seeing the glass in Jeanette's hand; that wasn't water.

"It will help, ma chere." Jeanette simply smiled in return. She now stood directly in front of Caryn.

"Why?" Caryn eyed the glass sceptically. "It is red," she thought and shivered suddenly. "Red like his..." She averted her gaze. "No." She muttered in disgust for she could smell it now, too. It had to be blood there in this glass. Caryn's confusion turned into curiosity, "Why had Jeanette poured blood into a glass and offered it to me?" She wondered. "How?"

Jeanette touched Caryn's chin slightly, motioning her face upwards so she had to look into her eyes. "I know." She whispered softly and stroked her hair so very softly.

"What? What do you know?" Caryn stared at her, not knowing what to make of this, and then it hit her. This Jeanette, this woman had to be a vampire for there was no other reasonable option -- only she did not feel like one. She shook her head; this just got stranger and stranger.

"You are a vampire, aren't you?" Caryn asked finally aloud.

"Yes, I am."

"You don't feel like one." Caryn whispered in return. "A vampire I mean, not like the ones I'd known." Caryn froze and took Jeanette's wrist, feeling for a pulse. "You've got a pulse -- a heartbeat?" She hadn't heard of any vampires having possessing these things, at least not for full vampires and Jeanette certainly wasn't an Arun.

"Ah, yes, I have even it's very slow." Jeanette chuckled warmly. "I guess the reason for your confusion is that I am not like the vampires you've known so far. I am right, ma chere?"

"Yes." Caryn nodded and leaned against the closest kitchen cupboard for she felt she needed some support right now.

"It's because I am not a solar vampire, Caryn." She explained with a sigh. "We are also mostly responsible for all those vampire myths among humans."

"You mean all those things about sunlight, crosses and holy water? They're true?" Caryn eyed her with wide eyes. She had always thought those things were only fairytales or created by Hollywood at best but this woman said they were true, so she was truly surprised for once.

"Yeah, all those, though I wished they weren't true, sometimes." Jeanette smirked. "They do hurt a lot."

"You're hurt by sunlight then or crosses?" Caryn stared and thought that if someone tried to point a cross at for example Aubrey, all he would do was laugh and ripping their throat out or something alike but Jeanette was obviously serious about this.

"Yes, sadly I am because I would love to see the sunlight some day again and not burn." Jeanette gave the glass another look then handed it to Caryn.

"You never seen the sun since you've been turned?" Caryn shook her head for she could not even imagine how that would feel, for an eternity unable to see the sun again without it killing her.

"It's okay, you can take it. Nobody died for this." Jeanette held the glass to her again.

"I-I don't know." Caryn muttered feeling torn but finally took the glass from Jeanette.

"That's also one of the things dividing us from the vampires, you've known, Caryn. We do make an effort on not killing any humans if possible. See, it's to keep us, the community, safe so humans won't come hunting for us -- and believe me that's not a nice thing." Jeanette voice trembled slightly on the last words as if relieving things of her past. It was obviously nothing good to remember.

"You've been always like that?" Caryn looked up sceptically to her. She wasn't sure how much she should believe of this.

"No, we're not, I confess. We weren't always like this but in the past things were different. Without the option to conserve blood like this," Jeanette explained and pointed at the glass in Caryn's hand. "There were very little options for us back then." She closed her eyes for a moment like relieving the past and sighed.

"Look Caryn, it's not like I love to kill humans but there's little we can change about our nature and so can't you."

"I don't like this." She said, "I don't want to like this." She shivered.

"You're a witch, aren't you? Like Ivory I mean." Jeanette said thoughtfully, trying something else.

"Yes, but I'm not like Ivory." Caryn nodded and shook her head after a few moments.

"So, it's about you being a witch why this is so difficult for you, isn't it?" She traced Caryn's chin with her fingers trying to give comfort but stopped when she felt the younger girl becoming rigid under her hands.

"Yes, I guess it is." Caryn replied after a long while. "We are not hunters and … not supposed to hurt anyone … more so killing." She swallowed deeply thinking of what she'd done, a capital crime for her kind. "This … it's forcing me against anything I ever believed in, Jeanette."

"But there is nothing you can do about this to change, can you?"

"No, there isn't." Caryn agreed sighing in defeat. Jeanette was right, there was nothing she could do to change either what had happened to herself or what she had done.

"Then accept it as it is."

"I'll try." She took it to her lips and drank.

"Jeanette, what is it about this club anyway?" She asked after a long while.

"Ah, you mean the name, don't you?"

"Yes, it's strange."

"It's a joke." Jeanette chuckled softly. "It had been an idea of a friend of mine." Her eyes went unfocused for a moment as she was remembering the past. She was remembering the events, which led her to come here. This girl, this Caryn, she reminded her of him, Nicolas and Jeanette felt compelled to try to save her, save her from the same fate she had lost him to, guilt.

"Oh, Nicolas, why did you had to be such a fool?" She thought; it hurt to lose him, so much more then she believed back then. Back then she had thought she didn't love him anymore, but in the aftermath she knew she had been wrong. Well, it's too late now. He was dead now, dead because he thought he had killed her, his Natalie and he had but she didn't stay dead. Come to think of it, it was actually quite ironical but it had almost broken her then, both Natalie and Jeanette. "Men," Jeanette cursed silently, "they're fools all along."

"My friend, she thought it would be a fitting name for this," Jeanette explained, "and it would annoy some of her friends out of their minds, too." She shook her head then, shrugging it off. "Come, let's take a seat." She motioned Caryn to follow her to the other room and led her to a couch. She gave Caryn a tender gaze. "This is much better, don't you think?"

Caryn leaned back and yawned for she was tired even she didn't want to go back to bed right now cause she was still too disturbed by her dream.

"Here, I've something for you," Jeanette said and offered her pale violet octahedron. It pulsed with magic in her hand. "I think you might have use for this."

"Thank you," Caryn said confused but she took it nevertheless. It resonated with her own power; it pulsed like it was alive. "This is a focus stone," She realized, wide eyed. "Why did you give me this?"

"I don't have use for this ma chere," Janette explained with a chuckle. "I'm not a witch and I thought this might be helpful for you."

"I know you're not and this is more than helpful." She replied, confused – her eyes were wide open. She fingered the stone in her hands, testing its texture and surface. "It's part of the answer to a question I've been thinking about for a while."

"I'm glad I could help you." Janette said, smiling warmly.

"I'm really grateful for this, you know." Now, it was Caryn who shook her head. Things just got weirder. How could've Jeanette known that she needed something like this?

"I've my ways, Caryn." Jeanette added after seen the look of wonder in the younger girls eyes. "I might be not a witch, but I have my share of knowledge of magic too."

"I guess you do."

"We have, like we all have ma chere." Janette returned and gave her a dazzling smile. "But now it's time for you to go back to sleep. You have a long journey in front of you tomorrow."

"You found something?" Caryn asked excited. "A car, I mean?"

"Yes, I think we have." Jeanette smiled softly in return.

"All, right I go to sleep then." Caryn agreed with a suppressed yarn and hoped not to dream like that again as she went to her bedroom.

For the first few hours she seemed to get her wish but after waking up shortly for a short visit to bathroom she began to dream again but this dream was very different from the first and a very unlike dream too. She couldn't remember ever having such a dream like this.

She stood in the opening of a forest; an ancient forest with trees trailing up to the sky. "So much green, so much life," she thought in awe feeling overwhelmed by the feeling of life around her. "It feels like the grandmother of all forests," she whispered to herself. It was quiet, but it was the quietness of peace, not of terror but it whispered also of magic in its silent voice.

Caryn looked up, watching the sun's golden rays dancing through the tree leaves, which left complicated patterns on the floor beneath her. They were beautiful, gleaming in dark emerald greens; it was summer here in this place wherever this was. Although, Caryn had the feeling it was when she should ask and not where.

She turned around and found a path on the other side. It was set alight with golden sunlight, looking like a small river of gold drawn on the forest floor for she could see it meandering deep into the forest just like any river would have. Caryn smiled, seeing a deer far away, walking peacefully.

"Where I am?" She thought again and followed that way deeper into the forest. "Strangely, even if it is calm I can hear it calling to me," she realized and found herself humming along with the trees besides her.

Suddenly she stopped. She felt like being watched, but she couldn't find anyone there besides the trees around her. She shivered in response. "It's as if they have eyes."

She walked father along this golden path; that was until the golden light vanished. She stopped again, shivering once again. Until now everything had been wonderful, but now there was fog instead of golden sunlight - and the humming had become something akin to the silence of dead un-living things.

Then there was - noise. Yes, there was noise, which sounded too much like steal on steal, like swords clashing against each other. "Nobody uses swords like this anymore. Don't be silly." she told herself but she couldn't help the rising dread in her heart, creeping at her like a hunter at his prey.

The way had ended - into what seemed like a battlefield. There was lots of blood, littering red under the dark trees now. It caused a cold shiver of terror to running up her spine. She put her arms among her shoulders, thus hugging herself but it didn't help against this cold. She trembled again; she felt so cold.

She could out make faint, ghost like figures fighting each other, a setting like in the Middle Ages. "A ghost battle," she muttered.

Though she recognized, that not all fights were done by steel. There were remnants of power and pain caused by traces of blood-magic, of life and dead.

She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the scene in front her. She wasn't very successful.

Caryn was after all still a healer. "Nothing could change that," she hoped and feared at the same time that she was wrong in her hope.

She could hear water flowing nearby. Yes, the water was near, but the forest was so much closer but so were these ghosts but they were only echoes of that what once was. They were the echoes of long ago; echoes of a battle fought more than an age ago, a war, which had been almost lost but at the very last victory came. Yet, Caryn felt that it came with a terrible price attached.

Caryn gasped; there was a figure; no there were two, a woman and a man.

The woman looked like a witch, but what kind of witch was she? She was young; Caryn could feel it in the traces of her energy. The man, however seemed to be old, not old as in being frail, no, but old as in an ancient Deity -- and he had caught her, the witch.

A halo of a slim, dark haired beauty he caught. Greens there were, but the greens were now dotted with orange and red, still it made up a wonderful flower.

He was dancing, testing her. Taunting her, but she remained cold like being made of ice and it was ice, which was spreading from her fingertips. They were just tiny bits and pieces at first, which became more and more while Caryn watched, until they cloaked her completely.

Suddenly the man turned around to look directly at Caryn and smirked. Then he changed, his face changed into that of a woman's and his hair grew long, bound into a long tail.

Caryn froze, she knew this woman; it was Dominique Vida's face, she was staring into.

"Don't listen to the dragon, little Smoke." Dominique smirked at her, teasing her. "For its truth might not be yours." Caryn could hear a shilling laughter from both of them and the dream vanished into darkness.

Caryn awoke for the second time tonight but this time she was completely confused by her dream, as she hadn't any idea what it meant to her.

* * *

Author's notes:

Ah, yes, it's a little crossover with Forever Knight … and a crossover with Highlander is also implied, but it's only implied. It's because I like the idea of crossing Forever Knight and Highlander.

Assuming, Jeanette moved to Vancouver to get away from things a while. So, Jeanette, Natalie and Nicholas are not my own as Forever Knight doesn't belong to me, too. And so doesn't Highlander.


	25. Darkness and Light: Reality

finally

Awakening - Chapter Twenty-Fiv

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

* * *

**Reality**

--

_When the dreams are gone, all that left is reality._

_A place of not dreaming, that is reality._

_But what if it really was nothing but a nightmare?_

_Would it still be real when everything becomes unreal?_

_--_

* * *

--

Next day began with Hasana being woken up by her mobile phone in the very early morning. Hasana took the phone, still sleepy while sitting up in her bed.

"What?" She spoke into the phone, yet a little bit cranky mood but she couldn't help but feel uneasy. Who would call her at a time like this and on her mobile, no less?

"Dominique, it's you." She replied and moved to a better listening position, leaning to wall behind her.

"Really? A demon?"

"Yes, Dominique, we will return as fast as possible." Hasana answered in a hurried way.

She could hear the tension in Dominique's voice and she listened intensely. That Dominique Vida would call her on her mobile phone that alone showed Hasana, that something wasn't right at all.

"How's Mikhail?" Hasana held the phone tightly in her hand, almost shutting it off in the process. "Is he … all right?" Her voice was trembling. _No, Mikhail had to be all right._

"Thank the Gods," Hasana replied with a deep sigh and hung up.

"Caryn, plans have changed. We will take the plane now." Hasana explained in a grave voice.

"The plane? What had happened, mother?"

"You remember the council I mentioned before we left for Erinna's?"

"Um, yes, I do." Caryn agreed slowly for she had really forgotten that part over all what had happened in the last few days. "I guess it really wasn't an ordinary meeting?"

"No, indeed it wasn't, Caryn. This is very serious and Dominique had requested my, our return at fast as possible."

"When do we leave?"

"As fast we can catch a flight." Hasana said deadpanned.

-

* * *

xox

* * *

--

A day and several flight hours later they were back, but their home seemed to be very different place now.

Why did Dominique have to settle down here, she wondered with growing dread as Caryn watched Dominique in her rant. Of course she could understand that Dominique was irritated and upset about what was going on -- but did she have to behave like that?

"_Search and destroy,"_ Caryn thought, "that is all Dominique seems to have on her mind." She shook her head. What happens if for once she cannot destroy it? Like the demon? From what she had heard from Jager a demon wasn't exactly a being you could kill at all for it wasn't exactly alive. All you could do was vanish it but Dominique seemed to think otherwise.

Well, she couldn't do what Dominique had on her mind -- destroy.

"Caryn, we need every asset we have right now!" Dominique Vida all but shouted.

"I know, but I cannot do this, Dominique." Caryn said sadly. "I won't become a living weapon - not even now." She added and steeled herself for the storm to come.

"_You said what, I didn't understand_." Dominique Vida queried, rage only barely contained.

"No, I said no." Caryn repeated, her voice now calm and defiant. "I not becoming a tool of destruction for you." She stood still. Pale blue eyes starring into another pair of ice blue ones. She would not move in this.

"Why can't you understand that I can't do that? I literally can't, it's against my whole nature." She explained further. "You, Dominique Vida, have no idea of what you are asking me of." Caryn sighed heavily. Truly it was not that she didn't want to help but she could not do what was Dominique wanted.

"So, this only about Smoke Law," Dominique drawled, which she normally never did.

Caryn raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Then I have to call a trial." Dominique finished.

"No…" Caryn uttered.

"Ah, yes I have to." Dominique smiled at her. "You can go now, Caryn"

_Trial. _

When she left she felt shaken. Shouldn't she have expected Dominique to do something like that, yes she should have but still she was surprised when it really happened. "What about mother?" she thought worried. "Mom already has enough to bear with me."

How am I going to survive this? She wondered as the familiar fear took hold of her, her fear of being discovered -- thrown away, which she deserved, didn't she? After all she was hiding this from her friends, family -- from her own mother.

_But I have to, what other choice have I?_

So she'd left their house, true it was kind of foolish, but she needed to be away for a while. Caryn shook her head. "I'm back for not even a week and I can't stay it at all." Okay, she knew that had a lot to do with the presence of Dominique, all, if she was honest to herself.

So she walked, walked absentmindedly in the dark and didn't know if she even wanted to go back any time soon. Home felt not really like home to her, with Dominique waiting for her there.

True she didn't felt like going home but eventually she did but she tried to be as quiet as possible because she wanted to avoid Dominique. Caryn really was quiet but not quiet enough because someone heard her.

"Hello?" She jerked around and sighed in relief. The voice belonged to a tall young looking man standing in the kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee as it seemed. "He's not vampire," she thought in relief for she had way too much surprise encounters for her taste.

"Hello." She replied but continued stared. Who was this man? She'd never seen him here before. He looked familiar somehow then gasped because she caught sight on his golden eyes. The man was a Triste, like Ivory.

"Who are you?" I'm Caryn." She tried again.

"Oh, right you don't know me. I'm Alexander Weatere and I'm here to help Dominique."

"Looking for that demon?"

"Yes, exactly like that." He motioned her to follow him. "Do you want a cup?"

Coffee, she thought and then nodded. She couldn't sleep anyway so why not?

"You're away weren't you?" She asked after sipping on her coffee for a while.

"Yes, I've been doing research on cars." He smirked light-hearted.

"On cars?" She hadn't expected this. _What had cars to do with demons?_

"Yep, on cars. That guy might be a demon but he's one caged into a human body and as such restricted on using human technology for transport and so are his followers." He explained.

"Okay, that sounds logically." She nodded. "Did you found anything?"

"You can say that again. Yes, I found something and I think it's going to bring us a big step forward in this." Then he shrugged. "But I've to report to Dominique first."

"It's all right. It's her mission any way, isn't it?"

"Yes, mission," Alexander answered, "you're right it's her mission." His gaze had turned far away -- and Caryn somehow didn't thought he would say anything more about this.

"It's late," she said finally. "I think I try to catch some sleep, yet."

Caryn went up and left for her bedroom, feeling somehow that she should at least try.

--

* * *

xox

* * *

--

Two days have gone by with a very uneasy truth or so it felt to her. Seems like Dominique kept quiet just because for her mother's sake and because Alexander brought back some good information and she was busy with that.

Well, what ever Caryn could still not sleep well and went on doing nightly walks ignoring any danger there might be. Yes, she knew her mother wasn't fond of her doing this but the times she simply couldn't stand being in the house were growing.

Now, this was another night she spend walking under the moon and thinking. Her thoughts were keeping back on the research she had done as she fiddled with the stone she now wore on a band around her neck. Caryn had done some hidden research too, using her mother's book when she was at the bookshop. This stone, it would be all she needed to do a scrying spell although the whole idea of that was rather foreign to her.

So, she kept walking until she got the feeling of being watched. She looked around but couldn't find anybody. Now, she couldn't help remembering; remembering what had she agreed on. "Strange, he could persuade me into that when Dominique could not but that was different. Jager hadn't wanted me to kill anybody, just to help him finding that demon."

Caryn shook her head. "Caryn Smoke get a grip on yourself. It's nothing, you only agreed to help for the greater good." She went up and down, now back at their house. Her mother had gone to sleep hours ago, but she couldn't find any sleep after her talk with Dominique, after Dominique's threatening her with trial.

"He said he'd come back for me." She murmured. "He needs me for this." She muttered, still in disbelief of the latter. "He's got more power then most, even Aubrey." She shivered at that, realizing what that might mean. "And still he can't do this alone … or doesn't want to." She shivered.

"Caryn?" she heard a whisper. She swirled around.

"Jager." She realized surprised that he found her so fast.

"Thought, I would forget about this?" He asked her and chuckled.

"No, I had no doubt about that." Caryn objected. "Whatever you are, you are known to stick to your word, Jager."

"Yes, I am." He agreed in his smooth voice and gestured forward. "Do you have all the things you need?"

"Yes, I do." She said after a short while, padding the focus stone, she was wearing hidden under her blouse. It was a search stone of she was sure now and more wasn't needed.

They finally reached their destination; it was a park, but it looked like the remnant of a forest's dream of centuries ago.

"It is beautiful." She said but smiled an uneasy smile because this place reminded her of that dream of hers, her last one she had in Vancouver, the one about that weird forest.

"Yes, it is." He agreed. "One of the few places humans were wise enough to leave in peace."

He gestured to an opening just a few leagues in front of them. "This is the place."

"Wow…" Caryn felt her skin tingling.

"It's all right, this is a place of power." He grinned at her reaction. "We are safe here."

finally she did her search spell, guided by Jager's memory about the places he'd been.

After a long hour, she found it. Only it found them as well.

She felt that it had done something to them, but she didn't know what.

"Jager," she murmured, "I found it. It's in New York."

"New York," he repeated slowly.

"Yes, New York. It looked like that." She was facing him now.

"Then New York it is." He found himself whispering back. He thought to catch a demon, but now he himself felt like being caught. Caught by a pair of blue eyes.

She found herself staring him in the eyes, feeling trapped by those dark sparkling embers.

"This is wrong," she thought but she couldn't stop herself.

Then they heard laughter, demonic laughter. "You think you are smart, don't you, vampire?"

Caryn felt frozen by that voice; it was so evil. That was the only word that fit, not devious, not bad but downright evil. It wasn't ugly, no indeed it was downright beautifully soft, but it was the sweetness of poison.

"Caryn," Jager muttered, "Close it."

"I'll try." She responded, while shaking softly.

"Oh, this interesting," it whispered again and sniggered. "Yes, really interesting." It said and suddenly they felt assaulted, it grabbing for their minds. It hurt, a lot and then all went weird.

She felt something grapping at her mind, twisting it making her feel dazed.

"It's that demon," she thought with dread and tried to stay, to keep her senses even it was pulling at her, filling her with a unknown feeling.

And then she felt trapped, staring into a pair of bright green eyes. The feeling intensified, pulling her forward -- to him.

He felt the same pull, feeling drawn to her and pulled her closer, feeling her trembling in return. He wondered briefly what it would feel, to kiss those tender lips just in his reach and leaned forward.

He almost kissed her.

And suddenly the weird feeling was gone, as was the connection was gone. Somehow, Caryn had managed to cut the connection and now they were alone again.

The demon's influence was gone and the night around them looked like before.

Yet, she felt dazed and strangely interested into the pair of emerald eyes so close to her.

"J-Jager…" She was staring and for some unseen reason she couldn't move.

"Caryn." He stared right back. He could feel being sucked in by her pale eyes.

For a long moment they remained just like that. Standing there in the middle in the night, staring at each other – as if frozen in time.

"Caryn," he whispered as he touched her cheek with his fingertips, feeling her trembling beneath his touch. "Please, believe me … I didn't plan on any of this." He smiled warmly at her, trying to apologize.

"Nor did I," she replied while reaching out to touch his hand. "Why did this have to feel so good?" she wondered silently. She'd never felt like this before.

He pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her close to him. And she melted into him.

They remained like this for what seemed an eternity.

But it was him who finally let her go. "Caryn," he whispered. "You have to go."

"I know." She replied, trying to avoid his gaze now when she finally left to go home.

He felt himself staring at her leaving form.

"Well, you got yourself into a fine situation here, Jager." He muttered to himself.

--

* * *

--

_Thank you for reading._

_Please review, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this._

_Miarath_


	26. Darkness and Light: Twilight

Awakening Chapter Twenty Six - Darkness and Light: Twilight

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

-

* * *

-

**Twilight**

-

"Triste," Adianna mused, "they look like us and most of the time they even behave like that too -- but they're not really like us."

Adianna had been watching him sitting in the garden, sitting cross-legged and completely still. She shook her head again for what seemed the tenth time or so and decided that she was never going to understand him, he and his kind. They were simple too weird for her taste.

Really, what sense did it make to sit all night in the garden and stare up to the stars -- doing what? Meditating? She shook her head. _"Triste." _She snorted but then fought down a gasp because she realized that suddenly he wasn't alone anymore.

There was one of them in the garden, a vampire, and she seemed to be moving towards him -- like a moth to the flame. Yet, he kept still not showing he was even dimly aware of the vampire behind him.

"Alexander?" That's Risika, what is she doing here." Adianna wondered, but she kept quiet knowing him having a hard time about it. She snorted, shrugged and moved to return to the house. It wasn't Vida business; let him deal with it on his own, she thought but then stopped seeing that he was allowing the vampire closer than any Vida would've ever done so -- ever.

Adianna could just stare, watching the vampire creeping closer to him.

Yet, he did nothing. _What is she doing?_ Adianna held her breath, suddenly realizing what he was 'doing'. He was hunting, Triste style. Adianna couldn't help, but she felt crept out by this. "He is going to make her drink him. It's … not right," she thought. "Why is she buying his ruse?" Now, she shivered even more. "Did I just take her side?" She wondered, confused. "She's the enemy, she has to be killed … but not like this." Her thoughts kept spinning, but still she stalled – and did nothing.

Alexander almost won this creepy fight when something, someone, pushed Risika away before she could bite Alexander. The same somebody also knocked him out.

The figure took Risika and both of them vanished in fracture of seconds -- it looked like a blur.

"Another vampire," Adianna thought, but they had been gone too fast to recognize who it was. Then she turned around because she could hear steps behind her.

"It's all right Adia." She heard Caryn's voice saying from behind.

"Caryn?" She muttered. "What are you doing out here?"

"Dropping by?" Caryn replied. "Last time I remember, this was still my mother's house."

"It still is…. but what?"

"Am I doing out here at this time?" Caryn nodded, seeing the slightly confused expression of the older witch.

"Yes."

"Walking, Adia. I just couldn't sleep, " she explained dryly, " but why is he here?"

"H-hunting, I think."

"Hmm." Caryn knelt next to the now unconscious Alexander, examining him.

"He's all right, Adianna, just unconscious." She looked up from him. "But tell me Adia, why the hell was he doing that? Hunting? From what I could see it looked like he was trying to kill his own sister. Damn it!" She cursed. Since that thing with Jessica, she seemed to have made a habit out of it.

"She's a vampire, not his sister, Caryn." Adianna objected.

"The hell she is. She might be a vampire – but she's still his sister." Caryn snorted. "It's not that easy Adianna." She shook her head. "I know you need to do this, keep yourself apart from them, but it's never this easy." She swallowed uneasy, feeling that the subject was too close to home.

"I'll take him inside," Adianna offered in return, ignoring Caryn's words.

"Yes, do that." She muttered; then she raised her voice and added. "And keep an eye on him, would you?"

"Sure," Adianna acknowledged and nodded. She knew what Caryn meant: Alexander had been acting odd lately.

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

Days had gone by fast after that and when the trial finally came she didn't know how to feel about it. The final hearing had been bad -- but she had expected worse.

It was bad because Dominique insisted on having the trial in her and Hasana's home of all places, right in the face of her family, including her uncle Mikhail and her sister Diana.

Then Dominique forced her to take that darned place, the place of the accused and the others would take rounds at speaking up about what they thought about her.

Well, the first to speak would be Dominique, because she was leader of Vida and this trial caller, the one who had asked for this trial to happen.

Caryn tried not to listen to the hateful speech, Dominique held about how bad she had been behaving and what bad example of a witch she was. Whatever she tried she couldn't help but feel guilty, even it was of things the others did not know -- yet.

She was guilty, wasn't she? She did associate with vampires, didn't she? And she did lie about it, too.

She looked up, just for a moment, meeting her mother's gaze, noticing a dark shadow on her mother's face.

_Did my own mother think me being guilty, too?_ She thought as she stood here in front of them all. Think Caryn, don't look away or else they think you're even guiltier. So, she kept staring them straight into the eyes.

In the end it was a near miss, they thought her guilty but they also thought that they couldn't afford to lose a healer of her quality so they refrained form disgracing her but they removed her from their inner circle. Which meant that they weren't to tell her anything Council related anymore and even her mother had to obey to this rule.

_Did they think of me being a traitor, too?_

She couldn't help but feel bad about the ending. The ending which saved her, but t was not because they thought she was innocent, no, it was only because of those recent deaths.

Caryn shivered, knowing that she probably hadn't much time before they would go farther. The seeds of doubt were laid, after all. Hell, this was all so wrong, but she did try to pretend things were all right even if she knew better -- nothing was all right.

Thinking these thoughts, Caryn left the hearing and for the first in her life, she didn't feel like she belonged here anymore, but were should she go? She knew nothing different and the others were of course nervous with all these killings going on.

So, on one hand she really understood their reasoning but that didn't do anything to the hollow feeling inside.

"Sister," she heard right from behind. She turned around to face her sister Diana. "Yes?" she answered.

"You know, there is a way out of this." Diana whispered.

"What?" Caryn muttered surprised. "What are you talking about sis?"

"You know this all." She pointed back at the meeting room "All this mess."

Caryn gave her a doubtful glance. "I don't believe you. Di, I can barely look into my mother's eyes after this. No, sis, there isn't a way out of this."

"But it wasn't your fault Caryn. Hell, it was 'your' duty to do what you did, even for someone like Jessica." Diana moved uneasily about this. "You know of SingleEarth?" She added.

"Yeah, I do sis." Caryn confirmed than stalled. "Wait, you want me to join you, don't you?" She asked and stared at her sister, feeling a rush of hope for the first time since this had all begun. "That could work," she thought.

"Yes, sis. I do." Diana confirmed. "Just sleep a night over this or so."

"I don't need to." Caryn objected. "I join you." She said, feeling really better for the first time in days.

"You are welcome sis, anytime." Diana smiled warmly at her. "You know somewhere we have to start. I mean we have to change something." She explained with a voice full of passion.

"I know, not everyone is evil just because he or she is a vampire, were or whatever." Caryn agreed thoughtfully.

"That's just my thought. Come I'll show you your room." Diana led her to parking lot, to her car.

"You're really comfortable with … this?" She asked after they had arrived at the building, Diana had chosen for her new community.

"Yeah, I am." Diana chuckled. "Caryn, I've dealt with lots of weres and vampires since I started this little project of mine that your little problem won't make me sweat."

"I glad to hear this," She replied, "you know it's hard after all this … pretending from others, even from mother." She shook her head.

"I know it is, but don't worry. We'll need any help we can get … if this is going to work out." Diana pointed at the building around but meant the whole SingleEarth project.

"I guess Dominique wasn't happy about it, was she?"

"No, definitely not." Diana agreed and then they both laughed, needing both some relief.

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_Thank you for reading!_

Miarath


	27. Splinters from the Mirror: One

Awakening - Chapter Twenty Seven

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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* * *

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**Splinters from the Mirror - Part One**

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_Mirror Mirror!_

_Mirror Mirror on the wall…  
You have once been pure._

_Pure like an Angel.  
Pure without a fault to mar._

_But what happens if said Angel falls?_

_What happens if the Mirror fails?_

_If it breaks?_

_-_

_Will you ever …  
ever leave the Otherland?_

_Did you lose your white rabbit?  
The Queen of Diamonds to cage your heart._

_And lost the key, she did._

_So, you wonder what is left of your dream?_

_Is it lost, too?  
_

_Maybe you'll find a shard._  
… _somewhere deep within._

Splinters

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Splinters

-

"Splinters," she thought, "we're just like that, splinters from the great mirror." There were her kind, witches: Smoke and Vida, like water and fire, yet only different sides of the coin -- and then there was the enemy; vampires, like Aubrey, Jessica and Jager, but there were more than just one kind of them.

There were vampires like Jeanette, bound to eternal night, never seeing the night -- and then there were of course all those shapeshifters and werewolves.

The latter, were of course, bound to the moon, waxing and waning in its eternal rhythm.

Yet, they were all the same, living on a single earth, which was why she was here now; having joined her sister's SingleEarth project. It was a dream, but without dreams, reality would've been too harsh to be worth living.

The very idea felt just like the right thing to try, however hopeless it might look now.

Vida had been at war with vampires for aeons, so it seemed. Yet, there had to be a place aside from hatred and death; there simply had to be peace somewhere in this world; a place where vampires could be something different than their enemy; not murderous monsters, but people.

Ever since her encounter with Aubrey she couldn't bring herself to think of them as mindless killers. Yes she knew that they were predators, but they were not all soulless evil killing machines. Well, she realized this now, but she doubted that Dominique or any Vida for that would ever accept this. All they could ever see was black and white, good and evil but not all the shades in between the real world was made of.

The world was a world of twilight -- neither night nor day, but a mixture of both.

"Yeah, shades of grey, that's what it is." She thought and since that assault at Erinna's she herself stood somewhere in between. She wasn't all that white anymore, wasn't she? She really understood that even vampires were people, some good, some bad, but most were neither like anybody else was.

"But they still are predators, natural born killers," she thought, "but if they are, what am I then now?" She wondered, thinking about that night, about that incident. "No, I cannot blame this on anybody else but myself." Yes, she knew that were the consequences of her decisions she had made, but yet she didn't quite know how to deal with it.

"No." She gazed through the window, out into the night but realized that the only answer lay inside herself.

She was roused from her musing by a loud bang at her door. "What?" She called, sounding a little harsher than usual because she was surprised.

"Caryn, you have to come down. It's Sarah Vida, she has been wounded."

"I'll come." She agreed and sighted, seeing as this hadn't been the first time she had been called to heal the younger Vida daughter. Somehow, Sarah seemed to get herself in trouble all the time. Well, there was nothing she could to do about that other the doing as she was asked -- healing her physical wounds, but somehow she feared that Sarah bore wounds nobody could see. No wonder with all the pressure she had to endure from her mother, no, not the first time Caryn was glad for having not born as a Vida.

"Sarah?" She asked to make her presence known.

"Come in." Sarah noticed her with a tired expression.

Caryn took a quick overview of the wound and sighed, feeling relieved that it wasn't all that bad after all. It wouldn't need too much of her own power to heal and looked like a rather easy job.

Well, Caryn had been right and wrong. It ended up being easy and difficult in once, easy because it was just a flesh would, not really deep -- but there was a lot of blood.

Yes, it was indeed easy to heal, but the smell of Sarah's strong Vida blood made it difficult to stay calm. It tugged at Caryn's self-control, appealing to the vampire part of her -- teasing it and made it hard to keep her aura under control. She had to struggle hard with herself, but thankfully managed to keep her face straight and her aura in check, not letting Sarah see anything of what was behind her calm surface.

It was good that way, Sarah wouldn't have liked, this different Caryn Smoke -- so different from the calm gentle healer she was supposed to be. Caryn shivered at those thoughts, knowing that Sarah would've probably attacked her or at least refused to be healed by her, which was kind of foolish in Sarah's line of work.

True, Sarah didn't like her much, which she could see in the looks of pity she got from time to time from her. Well, it didn't anger her, no, instead she felt sad for the other girl.

She watched Sarah leave after she was done.

Sarah Tigress Vida was strong and healthy but also utterly alone with no friends at all, not even in her family. Dominique Vida didn't give much about friendship, in her mind it just made you weak; a weakness no Vida could afford.

"If only, it were true, but in this she is so very wrong," thought Caryn. Friends gave you strength in your darkest hour, when everything seemed useless. Friends gave you a reason to fight for, to live for.

But true friends were just so hard to find, true friends who stood to her no matter what happened, she thought sadly. Really, it was kind of ironic that the closest thing to a friend she had was a vampire now, their enemy.

Well, normal life had started for her again, and tomorrow was her first day in school.

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xxx

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Keys

-

School felt weird in a way, but she was here in this school for a purpose. At least, that was what her mother has said to her. Hasana had asked her to check if there were any vampires, attending the classes of her grade, but she hadn't explained why she wanted her daughter to snoop around like this. After all, Hasana was here too, helping out for a sick teacher.

"Caryn?" She heard from behind, while she'd just left class.

Caryn turned around and found a delicate girl standing in front of her. She was a vampire, but she felt almost human so weak was her vampiric aura. She smiled at her, knowing that it probably meant that she either not drinking human blood or at least not killing anyone, taking only from willing suitors.

"Yes, that's me." She replied.

"I'm Nyssa." The girl replied and nodded towards their classroom. "I thought I could accompany you to art class as I attend the same class."

"Oh, that's all right. You're new here, right?" Caryn asked, wondering, why a girl like her, who was probably a lot older than herself, want to attend school all over again. True, she didn't know how old she was for sure, but had a hunch that she was at least much older than eighteen.

"Yes, me and my brother Christopher." Nyssa answered.

They had almost reached their destination, which was a large room, where art classes were being held.

"Caryn?"

"What do you think of Halloween this year?"

"About Halloween?" Caryn replied, not sure what the other girl was up to.

"Yeah, what are you doing on Halloween? I mean are going to any party?" Nyssa explained cheerfully.

"Party? Hmm, yes, a private one." Caryn said thoughtfully, thinking that maybe the other girl had a point. She really should think what to do for All Hollow's Eve, not that she really felt like attending, like all the years before, with Dominique Vida there.

So, what then, if not like that? SingleEarth? Yes, that sounded like a good idea; yes a good idea, which would make Dominique even madder, because she could do nothing against it. It was perfectly okay for Caryn to celebrate there; her own sister was there after all.

"Thank you," Caryn muttered then frowned, looking at girl in front of her, noticing how young she felt -- even for a vampire. "I'd invite you if you weren't already having other plans."

"Aww, thank you." Nyssa beamed. "I, maybe I can drop by, yes?"

"I'd be happy if you did." The auburn haired witch replied, smiling, liking the idea of building bridges. If not by people like them, how would SingleEarth grow, after all?

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_Thanks for reading and for all of you, who took the time to review._

_-_

_Miarath_


	28. Splinters from the Mirror: Two

Chapter twenty eight of Awakening.

For disclaimer see first chapter.

* * *

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**Splinters from the Mirror - Part Two**

-

-

_It is done…. the mirror is broken._

_Broken, but not destroyed…_

_Pieces falling quietly to the floor._

_Slow at first -- then accelerating … _

_Falling faster and faster…._

_Gaining vertigo_

_-_

_-_

_

* * *

  
_

Vertigo

-

Caryn Smoke had done it again, doing things against her wishes. First she had to join that stupid SingleEarth organisation, her sister has founded and now, she thought she choose to celebrate All Hollow's Eve there too, the rather celebrating it here.

Annoying, and that wasn't even all to it. No, she refused to help Dominique fighting that damned demon of all things, saying she couldn't do it because those outdated ethics of the Smoke line.

So, yes, Dominique was fuming, madder than mad.

Wasn't she the one to be the leader of them all, all those were the descendants of Macht?

Still, she couldn't control Caryn Smoke. The girl hand found time after time a way to bend their rules. Managed, to get it her way. Damn, that power of hers would the perfect thing to burn this bloody New Mayhem. To clean up those damned leeches for all time. More so, they would come handy fighting that darn demon. She snorted in distaste.

She had been so close, so near her dream of destroying most of them.

"Hm, so I don't have a legal way to make her go my way." She thought. "Well, that means I have to make a reason for her to follow my rules." She sniggered faintly at that.

"Yes, that will do."

She sat down and to another sip from her cup in her hands. "I just have to use that demon as tool to convince them to see it my way." Caryn might refuse to fight the demon for her, but what if she was convinced that it was the only way for her to not get disowned.

Ah, it would've be easy enough, with all the rumours about her associations with the enemy, with vampires.

Dominique's eyes lighted up at this thought. "Well, until that I have some hunters to train."

"Dominique?" She heard someone calling and turned around to find Alexander standing in the door, watching her.

"Alexander," she said, nodding, "anything new?"

"On the demon? No, but I think there's something you should know." He answered, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "There's something going on with your youngest daughter, Sarah."

"What?" Dominique queried.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but … she has been seen in the company of vampires."

"No, hat had to be a mistake." She muttered then took another look at Alexander, seeing the dead serious look on his face and groaned.

"She's going to wish she'll be death when I'm done with her." Dominique said softly but it sent chills down his spine. It was too soft, to be anything but a deadly threat.

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xxx

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_White Rabbit_

-

Hasana gave her class a testing look, trying to find out how to begin best. It was her first day in school since she had been asked to give several history lessons until their usual history teacher was well again.

No, it wasn't the same class her daughter was in. That was good because otherwise it would be a little discomforting, though Hasana knew that Caryn had nothing against it. Actually it was her, Hasana, who didn't favour this, being Caryn's mother and her teacher. She never had, for she thought she be unfair to her daughter for being either to hard or to easy on her.

"So, where to begin?" She thought. "Ah, yes, that is a fitting lesson."

"Good morning class. As you might already know, I will be your history teacher until Mrs. Hudson is well again."

Everything went well until the door opened during mid-class, revealing a rather lanky boy with reddish hair.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rashida," he apologized, "but I overslept." He kept his eyes down. "I'm sorry."

"Jeremy," Hasana replied slowly. "You know that this will mean you're going to have stay after class, don't you?" She gave him a stern glance -- and frowned. Something was off about this boy. Hasana hadn't seen him before, everything she knew was only from his file: from his appearance to his preferred classes. But yes it was there, just a very very faint but still there. Jeremy was a vampire.

"Strange, how faint it is," Hasana wondered and compared automatically with how her daughter felt now. She wasn't a fool to make herself believe that it didn't bother her; no , it was the hardest thing to see her daughter ... this changed, downright feral at times and not like she was supposed to be. "How could it be that my daughter feels more like one of them then this vampire … was he one of Midra's line?" She shrugged, seeing as this was the only explanation. Midra's line, they were almost as different from the other vampires as were weres from witches. One could almost think of them as a different kind of vampire, as they never drunk human blood and she had heard that they even despised it, not liking its taste at all.

Those were her musings while she tried her best to teach the children how to value literature -- actually more successfully than she believed at first. So, instead of being dreadfully long class quickly over and she stood in an empty classroom.

"Sister?"

"Mikhail?" Hasana turned around, being surprised to see her brother here in school and couldn't help but note how out of place he looked here with his long hair and leather clothes, looking pretty much like the rock musician he spend the other part of life.

"Have you got a minute?" He asked quietly but his look had something unnerving to her; making her very aware that this was no friendly visit to check on her. Something was off for sure.

"Yes," she replied and gave her brother another curious look. He looked rather tired, with dark circled beneath his eyes and pale skin. "What is this about?"

"We need your help sis." Mikhail said slowly giving his sister a thorough look-over. "We, you know we're given a order from the council to look into the case of the missing, killed witches."

"Yeah, I know." She acknowledged with a nod, waiting for him to continue.

"Hasana, I think I found a witness to the last murder -- and I think he's attending this school." Mikhail explained while fussing with his long hair.

"And?" Hasana eyed her brother with a raised eyebrow, knowing that there was more behind this than that or he wouldn't have come to her.

"He's a vampire." Her brother explained with a sigh. "Thankfully only a weak one. Probably belonging to Midra's line too but … well, I got no idea where to look for him."

"Midra's line?" she replied and couldn't help but think back to that boy in her class today. "Yes, I think I might know someone like that … but Mikhail, if that's really a demon you're fighting the boy is going to be rather defenceless." True the boy was also a vampire but to put life in danger like that went against her sense of honour -- and he was of Midra's line too, which meant he never tasted a single drop of human blood anyway. The boy was barely a vampire in that sense.

"I know." Mikhail sighed then nodded. "But if we do nothing he'll be in danger anyway. I'm pretty sure the demon had sensed him and had left him alone only because he it's not important to him nor interesting enough to play with."

Hasana nodded slowly then frowned at her brother. "What happened Mikhail, your power?" She finally noticed what it was, what bugged her about him, realizing that it was his missing his usually witch aura. Well, it was still there, but it was very muted.

"Dominique, sis." Mikhail said slowly. "That demon trapped me into a dream and she had to bind my powers to free us."

"About the boy, how do we go about this?"

"We? We can't do anything in this case." He shook his head with a sad motion. "We'd stand out too much for that."

"But then..."

"Well, I thought that we could let Caryn do this – and maybe Sarah, Dominique's daughter to a degree."

"Mikhail..." Hasana started to object but then nodded, knowing that he was right. "Okay, but I don't like it."

"I know, but we have to know what the boy knows." Her brother nodded then took a deep breath. "Sis, you know that I never wanted to get involved in something like this, but I, no we, don't have a choose."

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xxx

* * *

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"You want me to do what?" Caryn stared at her mother.

"Just to talk a little with him sweetheart." Hasana chuckled then went serious again. "He won't trust any of us ... older witches, but you might have a chance where we don't fit." Truly they had no idea how old the 'boy' really was, only that he pretended to be a teen and so they would have to handle him, as a teen.

"He's bound to know what I am." Caryn stated, not knowing how to feel about this new assignment.

"No, I doubt that my dear." Hasana objected. "He's very weak for a vampire, one of Midra's line."

"Oh, but I don't know how ... Do we have anything in common?" Caryn muttered but then nodded anyway, knowing that she had no other choice in this. She was already in a very fragile spot, concerning where she stood with her kind.

Yes, so she did as her mother wanted her to do and befriended that guy and found that she actually liked him – despite the fact that he was a vampire. Jeremy was a nice and funny guy to be around to. Sure, he was a little shy, which was something that surprised her, knowing that as a vampire he should have more than enough experience in dealing with other people. It made her wonder how old he really was then too, for he surely didn't feel old at that. Old, Caryn knew how that felt in a vampire, old that was what Jager was, but he was far more than just only old. He was incredible powerful too.

Unfortunately, Jeremy didn't talk like her mother had hoped. No, instead it was Nyssa, who talked, talked Caryn into spending Samhaim with both her and Jeremy.

Weird, now she had two vampire friends instead just one. Oh, no, Jager didn't count as a friend. Caryn shook her head at that thought. No, while she wasn't sure what exactly the old vampire was to her; he certainly was not _a_ friend.

Otherland

Then, the end of October had come faster than she had expected it to do and it was almost night now. There were only a few hours left, to be prepared now, to face her mother's hurt look when she would realize that she would not be with them this year.

"Samhaim," Caryn thought and shivered. "It's when the worlds are closest to each other."

"Caryn?" She heard her mother calling from behind.

Caryn turned around to see that her mother had already gathered her ceremonial clothes.

"What is?" Caryn asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You know I really would enjoy celebrating Samhaim with you, daughter."

"I know." Caryn sighed and shut her eyes for moment. "But I can't, mother. Please understand. I don't want to see Dominique after all this."

She shook her shoulders uneasily, knowing that she had made her mother sad, but she just couldn't help. "Besides I belong to SingleEarth now. I can't leave Di, now can I?" She added and forced herself to smile.

"No, guess you cannot daughter." Hasana said sadly and pulled her into an embrace.

"But remember, you are my daughter, always."

Caryn simply gave her mother a hug. "I know." She said, but she could've said, "I hope," as there was a light tremble in her voice.

"Now, hush you won't make your friends from SingleEarth wait, will you?"

"No, of course not." Caryn agreed softly and made for the door, so that she could put on her own ceremonial clothes. She couldn't help but feel excited, it was the first time she spend Samhaim not only with her own kind. No, this would be special, very special.

"A night of peace," she thought happily and went looking for a dress to wear. She chose a dark red dress in the end, because of the way she was feeling inside. No, pure green didn't fit her anymore.

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xxx

* * *

-

Samhaim was astonishing peaceful Caryn thought, while watching all the different species mingle here in their SingleEarth building.

"It's wonderful, Diana." She smiled at her sister.

"Yes, it is sister-heart." Diana agreed but then frowned. "I only hope there would be more of this, of peace."

"You know, that's impossible." Caryn muttered, knowing that it was hopeless to wish everybody would be able to get along. It simply was impossible, knowing that it needed the will to do so from both sides for it to happen.

"I know," she said, "but I can hope, can I not?"

"Yes, you can." Caryn gave her older sister a careful look, noticing the softness of her expression -- and the unavoidable difference between them now. Well, Diana didn't know that, and if it went after Caryn, she would never know. Not that she didn't trust her sister, no, that wasn't it, but she didn't want to take that innocence away from her; it was far too precious to her.

Someone of them had to be able to keep their pureness, even if she couldn't, not anymore. No, she was all too aware of how much she belonged to the twilight world now, between day and night. Cary could only hope that it wasn't going to tear her apart in the end; could only hope that the shadows wouldn't suffocate her.

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xxx

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-

Besides her uneasy feelings things went well so far and she really enjoyed being here with the other SingleEarth members. For a moment she wondered, why it couldn't be always like this among their kinds only to sigh in resignation a moment later. Yes, she know, that she was a dreamer but she wasn't alone – so, maybe there was hope after all.

Caryn was busy and preoccupied with thoughts like that so she didn't recognized a familiar face in the crowd and almost bumped into her.

"Sarah," she said in surprise. "Sarah?" Caryn called aloud, "I thought you planned on spending Samhaim with your family."

"I did," Sarah replied in a trembling voice. There was something desperate in her eyes, something pleading. "Please, Caryn, I just can't face them - right now. I cannot."

"You're welcome," Caryn said in a soft voice and grinned suddenly. "As long as you don't mind spending it with us, all of us."

"I don't," she agreed, but couldn't hide her unease at the thought of the vampires at SingleEarth. She shook her head, remembering that she had just made friends with Christopher and Nyssa. "It doesn't matter, Caryn."

Caryn just gave her strange look, noticing the stressed look of the older witch. No, something wasn't right at all. She sighed inwardly in defeat, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it.

She had an uneasy feeling, but in the end nothing happened, which she was very glad for.

Well, not exactly nothing happened, because just when she was about to go to sleep, she found a rose on her bed -- a black rose.

"Jager," she thought instantly and shivered with mixed feelings. Who else would send her black roses on Samhaim? Well, what ever, she couldn't help herself but took it up, smelling at it. He shouldn't do this, but why then did it make her smile?

"You like it?" she heard a soft voice from behind and whirled around to face nobody else but him, Jager, the vampire who rescued her from herself back when she had tried to run away from everything.

"Jager," Caryn muttered then swallowed. "Why?"

"Why?" He raised one brow and smiled softly. "I like to see you smile, Caryn."

She sighed, this time in defeat. "You shouldn't Jager." She repeated her previous thoughts. He really shouldn't do this, these sweet things to her. He was their enemy … and this would lead to nothing good, yet, she felt helpless by the surge of warmth it made her feel.

"I know." he cupped her chin, making her meet his eyes. "But I want to."

-

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xxx

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_Lost Dreams_

-

Samhaim was gone, gone as all hope, Sarah thought bitterly as she walked through the night. She had left Christopher, or was that now Kristopher, behind. Had left him with his brother. She didn't know how it had gone down like this. She couldn't breathe; well she didn't need to. She had left him a note, saying she had to think and left - but know she was walking and walking with no clear target in mind.

No, she couldn't go home; it wasn't home anymore. She shook her head, still not knowing why she had not taken the Vida way out of this. Why had she not fallen into her knife? Why?

There was nothing left, only a demon in the mirror. A mirror, she knew, would be empty soon.

Nothing left, but a cold night, feeling as cold like the heart she once had, or so she thought.

Where should she go now?

Home, she had no home to return anymore, not being like this. Going there would only get her killed. If she had wanted that, she would be already dead, yes?

So, Sarah Tigress Vida wandered aimlessly trough the night -- until she found herself facing a familiar building.

SingleEarth.

So, she went there – and all was good, well, barely okay in truth, but it was all she had. Of course it was difficult for her, but so was being this, being turned into this thing, their enemy. Yeah, so she needed this, a small peace, so she could come to terms with the turn her life had taken. That, yes, she needed to come up with something, needed to be sure what it exactly was she felt for him and hope it wouldn't be to late then.

Yes, may be, just may be, time was on her side for once.

The only thing, she really hated in all this, was the fact that she had to change her name – but it was necessary. It had been necessary for both her safety and for that Smoke witch, Caryn's. Yes, they had become friends, as strange it might still feel to Sarah sometimes, but she realized that there was far more to the other than she ever thought of.

The smoke witch wasn't as soft as she believed – no, not at all. She was warm, caring but fierce if you dared to harm someone she wanted to keep safe.

Protector, Sarah chuckled at that word, but it fitted her new friend so very well.

Yes, her life or better unlife started to get better now, and may be she'll be doing something about Christopher too. Yet, she felt uneasy to face him right now.

Fallen

"Caryn, wait!" He nearly shouted as he followed her into the SingleEarth building. It was early morning so they were alone right now. "Thank the Gods for this." He sighed.

"I need to speak with you." He explained, his voice full of concern. "It's important."

She turned around, starring at him. There was a shudder in his voice, very unusual of Mikhail, she wondered.

"What is wrong Mikhail?" She asked, confused of the flustered way he was acting.

"Everything." He said in a monotone voice.

"You are in trouble Caryn, real trouble." He explained. He showed her a photo.

"You've been caught. I doubt that even your mother can get you out of this one, Cary." He said sadly, looking questionable at her, like he had never seen her before.

Caryn looked at the photo and gasped in surprise. It showed her and Jager in a tight embrace. She shivered suddenly. She knew when the picture must have been taken. That situation had been completely harmless, and not what the picture implied. He'd just comforted her.

"But then was there anything harmless concerning vampires for my kind?" She asked herself, thinking of the disaster with Sarah Vida. Now, that was something she had never expected to happen. Sarah being turned into the very thing she hunted; some might it call amusing. Caryn just thought it to be sad.

"It is not what you think." Caryn tried to explain. "He just comforted me, really."

"You know that is more than enough for any Vida, foremost Dominique, to disown you, don't you?" He argued.

"Yes, I know." She swallowed a hard lump down. This was going to be ugly.

"How did this picture got taken anyway?" She wondered. "I didn't even know you could get a vampire on a photo anyway. At least not some one as old as him."

"Yes, so did I." He agreed. Someone as old as Jager had no reflection at all and could not be photographed.

Caryn turned the picture around only seeing a pure black surface. "I never have seen such a photo like this." She said thoughtfully, inspecting it carefully. There was no sign what's so ever on it.

"So, this means this hadn't been taken by anything like a ordinary camera." He concluded, now really puzzled. He sighed.

"Any way I have to go," he said hastily, "I don't want her to find me here."

"I'll understand," Caryn agreed, "but thank you for showing me this."

"Caryn?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going back after this. You know I just stayed for the Council and after that because of its order to do so, but I'm of no use right now. " He said weary.

She just nodded. "It's okay Mik." She said and reached forward, embracing him.

"Stay safe." She uttered, but meaning goodbye.

"I will Cary."

He nodded and left her to brood. She sat down, staring at the picture slightly dazed.

"How?" she asked herself, "how could somebody possible get close enough alone?" She absentmindedly caressed the picture. "He really looks good," she mused. "He shouldn't." "Why do you have to look this … beautiful?" She whispered to the picture.

Then she suddenly heard the door opening again, someone had come in. "Well, he or she must have a key," She realized, "so they would be of SingleEarth."

She knew that aura. "Sarah," she murmured. Sarah had searched sanctuary here after being turned. She needed a place safe from her mother's wrath, so she had joined SingleEarth for the time being

"Caryn?" Sarah asked rather timid for her. "What are you doing?" Then she caught Caryn's shadowed expression. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing, Sarah," Caryn replied, "nothing I can change." She sighed, her gaze travelling back to the photo in her hands. Suddenly she thought to hide it, putting it into one of her books.

Sarah caught the movement, "What do you have there?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing." Caryn replied, trying to fend off Sarah's curiosity.

Only Sarah didn't think so. She snatched the photo out of said book.

"Huh, nothing?" she asked shocked, "This is hardly nothing." She took a hard look at Caryn; looking at her as if she'd never seen her before.

She dropped down on a nearby chair, needing support right now.

"So, please tell me that this is a bad joke, a photomontage?" She queried, unbelieving what she'd just seen.

Caryn gave her just a blank look. She shook her shoulders helplessly.

"It's not what it looks like." She tried to explain, fidgeting nervously.

"So, tell me 'what' it is?" Sarah questioned. "This isn't you. He isn't of SingleEarth… He isn't one of its tame vampires. …It isn't safe Caryn…" She trailed off.

"I know." She stammered helplessly.

"But why?" Sarah wanted to know. "This isn't you, not the one I know!"

"Maybe I am not." Caryn swallowed, looking downwards. "I'm not the same since Jessica happened." She added, whispering. Then she looked up, facing Sarah. She gave her a good long stare. "You of all people should know better."

"Maybe," Sarah agreed, "but this still is different."

"Different," Caryn repeated, tasting the word's meaning slowly. "What is so different about it – it's you who got turned into one of them, not me." She shook her head.

Sarah slumped down at this, defeated. "You are right," she confirmed, "I have no right to judge."

They sat in silence – for a while.

"Sarah?" Caryn nearly whispered.

"Yes?"

"There's something I like to tell you … but you have to promise me." She trailed off then took a deep breath. "This can't get out of here. It is important." Her voice was grave.

"Caryn?" Sarah repeated again. She gave her a good long stare and nodded.

"I'll keep your secret as you keep mine." She promised; she swore.

"All right then," Caryn accepted and stood up. "Better we take this upstairs, the room is sealed." She couldn't hide the slight tremble in her voice but she had to do this, had to share her secret with someone. She needed to share it with someone who would understand.

They went into Caryn's workroom and Caryn closed the door, firmly.

"So, what's this big secret of yours?"

"Sit down, Sarah. You better sit down." Caryn replied – then she let her shields go; releasing the hold she had on her aura's colours for so long. She sighed deeply. Holding it up at all times had taken more out her then she thought it would.

Sarah just stared in response. Caryn hadn't changed in this moment, though her aura had. It was very different from what Sarah had known. It was intense. Where it had been warm before, it was now burning, but the burning wasn't what got her deep into her bones. It was the patches of deep dark red. Some parts were almost black, black like a vampire's aura -- a vampire, who had fed on human blood and had killed.

"Caryn…." Sarah whispered. "What's this? How did …"

Caryn swallowed in response. "Well, you remember that thing about healing Jessica?" she began then trailed off, not knowing how to explain. "Just, saying the changes went a bit deeper then I expected." Much more than I ever wanted them to be.

"But …" Sarah trailed off, realizing what those dark spots meant. They reminded her of Nikolas. "You didn't. Please tell me you didn't…." She trembled. This was way too close to home.

Caryn just smiled a sad smile, which turned into an almost hysterical fit of laughter. "You know if it weren't so serious it would be funny. You know in this you are more innocent than I."

"How? How did it happen?" Sarah uttered, utterly surprised by this -- and by the glimpse of something, which could be only the tips of sharp fangs between Caryn's lips. The latter could only mean that the healer in front of her was at least a half-vampire, like Arun were; but she had never seen many of them, since they got hardly with Vida along.

"How?" Caryn repeated and shrugged. "I guess it 'could' be claimed to be self-defence. Well, let's see. Some bad guys were set on killing me – only they got killed in the end." Her tone was dry, but laced with bitterness. No, she never wanted any of this.

"What? They did what? You aren't kidding about that, are you?" Sarah muttered.

"No, I'm not, believe me. They really had wanted to kill me. Come to think about, they looked pretty professional." Caryn explained. "They came after us at Erinna's in the middle of the night. I had just awoken from a particular weird dream when I heard them."

"And you went out to see what's going on, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was." Caryn nearly whispered. "That was when I met him, that fool." She shivered at the memory then shook her head. "He hasn't given me any other choice." Her voice trembled with emotion, fear, pleasure and guilt all mixed up into a big whirlpool of emotion.

Sarah swallowed uneasily, thinking of what Caryn's words meant, that they meant that the soft healer, she'd known all the time has bitten and killed a human being. Caryn had done what she was afraid of ever since she had been turned into this, a vampire.

"They were humans?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"How? How did they know you were there? And more important, why did they try to kill you?" Sarah asked agitated.

"I don't know. They're dead now, that's all I know." She answered hoarsely.

"But you live here alone, at SingleEarth. What if they come for you again?" Sarah gave her another worried glance. "You know I doubt my mother or any other Vida would help you in this?"

"I'll know, but –"

"But what? You cannot continue living here alone under all those other pacifists, Caryn. There's nobody to protect you here." Sarah was almost yelling, expressing her frustration. She found it hard to understand this certain Smoke witch. Sarah didn't know what to think about her, now. On the one hand she still was as peaceful - and warm, as any of them but on the other side she just found out there was just this feeling of something primal, something dangerous if roused. "Fire," she thought, "that's what she reminds me of."

Caryn swallowed uneasily, remembering the last time. "Maybe I don't need anybody." She said ironically, but her eyes held no smile and her voice sounded far to jaded to her own ears. Well, there was nothing she could do.

"That's bullshit and you know that, Caryn!" Sarah paced uneasily.

Caryn just said nothing.

Sarah swirled around, tossing her long hair. "You know I could take you with me to Christopher."

"To do what? Make Dominique Vida even more mad at me, than she already is at you, Sarah?" Caryn snorted.

Sarah just gave her an annoyed look, but it wasn't meant for her. "No Caryn, mother isn't mad at me. I don't exist to her, anymore." She tried to sound aloof, but her voice cracked more then once. "No, I'm not her daughter, I'm her enemy now."

"You shouldn't be." Caryn whispered, soft as falling leaves in autumn. She took her into her arms and let go of herself. She sobbed with her.

They remained like that – for a long while.

"So, you gonna come Caryn?" Sarah whispered into her ear, finely.

"Yeah, guess I do," she said with a yarn, "but not tonight."

"All right," Sarah agreed and yarned herself, even it wasn't really necessary for her. "I'll stay we you." Sarah gave Caryn another gaze and felt suddenly very confused. Why did she feel so protective about this Smoke witch? They hadn't been exactly friends before. Hell, they hardly got along. But now? Now everything had changed.

* * *

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_Author's Note: _

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_The first lines are about Blind Guardian's Mirror Mirror, but they could also equally belong to the fairytale Snow-white or may be a little Alice in Wonderland as you might notice in the headers.  
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_I know it has been a really, really long time without updates but, well, I didn't got and good ideas on how to write this I wanted to do. It's still a little sloppish and there might be more typos than I'd like to have but well, I did update.  
_


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